Coming Home
by Master-Magician
Summary: Up until now, every step Dipper took carried a heavy weight of dread. More than once he found himself watching every shadow, every corner, just waiting for a sign they'd been followed. Thus far, their fortune had held out. A little weight fell off the boy's shoulders now that they were here, but that uncomfortable queasiness that had been plaguing him since this nightmare started w
1. Return to the Mystery Shack

**I'd like to start out by saying that inspiration for this came from the Gravity Falls work written by William_Easley. Any Gravity Falls fan should go read everything they've wrote. It's not just a huge amount, but it's all great stuff! I've only just started on it myself, but its some of the best stuff I've read. If they ever did make a season 3, or more, I'd suggest they make it out of their works, they're that good. **

**After writing a few chapters I ended up settling on the triad relationship Wenpines (Dipper X Mabel X Wendy), so yes, this includes incest so be ready for that. While I have written triads, I have not done incest before so this one is a new writing experience for me that I wanted to at least try. **

**Enjoy**.

* * *

"We're almost there, Mabel." Dipper sucked in a deep breath. There was no telling what reception they were going to get. A warm one, surely, at first. After that? This could go any number of ways, and the Pine's twins were a bit low on options. "How's Waddles?"

"He's o… okay." Mabel had nearly cried herself out of tears already, but the few that remained would not be denied their due.

Waddles was probably one of the few things keeping Mabel's mind from shutting down completely. He would have carried a catatonic Mabel along if he had to, but that didn't mean he wanted to. With every step Dipper thanked his lucky stars for that pig's presence.

The pig, having since grown too large to be carried, was led on a leash, staying as close to Mabel as he could while not tripping her feet up. He was so quiet that if he hadn't been still walking alongside them, Dipper would have doubted he still lived. It was like Waddles knew how bad the situation was, so he kept quiet out of respect, or fear of making things worse.

Smart pig.

Dipper didn't even want to think of what Mabel would do if something happened to Waddles. He'd rather go through a hundred Weirdmageddons again.

"Look, it's the Mystery Shack!' Dipper forced himself to smile. While he was certainly delighted to see their home for the last couple summers, he wished it was under better circumstances. The smile was for Mabel's benefit more than anything. He hoped seeing the shack would lift her spirits, even a little.

It didn't.

Mabel looked up and saw the Mystery Shack, but all she managed at the familiar, and happy, sight was a nod.

Terrified at the prospect of being separated from Mabel, Dipper led her along by the hand. Her other clung to Waddles leash like he could disappear if she let go for a fraction of a second. Being the rational thinking one of the two, Dipper knew that couldn't happen, but Mabel needed the reassurance, the surety, right now. Even if her white knuckled grip on the strap was starting to worry him.

Up until now, every step Dipper took carried a heavy weight of dread. More than once he found himself watching every shadow, every corner, just waiting for a sign they'd been followed. Thus far, their fortune held out. A little weight fell off the boy's shoulders now that they were here, but that uncomfortable queasiness that had been plaguing him since this nightmare started was going strong.

Step by step, the twins made their way across the parking lot toward what they could only hope was a refuge.

"And here we have the…" Dipper heard the familiar voice and almost burst into tears himself.

Hang on, why was there a tour group here? It was the off season, there shouldn't be hardly anybody here. Whatever the reason, Dipper vacated it from his mind. He had more important fish to fry.

"It's okay, we'll be safe here, Mabel." Dipper whispered to his sister, giving her hand a small squeeze. It was a total lie, but Mabel needed to hear it. He had been saying similar words for the last… he hadn't even been keeping track anymore, but he kept repeating them in the hopes something would stick. "Everything's going to be okay."

Dipper and Mabel were making their way through when toward the group when they both heard the yell. "DAWGS!"

During the bus ride over, Dipper had come up with over a hundred different scenarios for their arrival. Dozens of introductions, all sorts of variable possibilities, and all of these were flying out of his head like a bird set free from a cage. He couldn't even remember what he had decided on saying first.

"Sorry, folks. Rest of the tour is canceled." Soos looked… eerily like their Grunkle Stan. Same suit, same eyepatch, and even that same fez. Stan himself would have been proud he nailed the look so well. "Family emergency."

Yeah, family emergency. Too bad Soos didn't realize just how appropriate the words 'family emergency' were here. Ugh, Dipper didn't want to even imagine how Soos was going to take this.

Melody appeared from seemingly nowhere to usher the group of tourists out while Soos held his arms out wide, turning his unimaginably huge grin on his favorite younger Pines twins. "Come on, bring it in, guys!"

Soos could sometime be a little slow on the uptake. He may not be the most intelligent, and he might have his moments of bad judgement, but Soos Ramirez was no fool when it mattered.

Between Mabel's muffled sobs, Dipper's wary look, and the plain fact the Dipper and Mabel were even here in the first place, he knew something wasn't right. The final cherry on top was when neither, especially Mabel, didn't rush in for the hug.

"Guys, what's going on?" Soos couldn't rush to the twin's fast enough.

"Dip…" Mabel choked out.

Dipper said nothing, instead obeying the unspoken request to take Waddles leash. The instant she was freed, the female Pines twin launched herself at Soos. She clung to their friend even tighter than she did Waddles, and that was saying something.

Hearing Mabel's cries begin anew was agonizing to Dipper. He'd heard enough of them on the bus ride over, and more before then, but one never truly goes accustomed to their twin's suffering. This went doubly for twins so close to each other as Dipper and Mabel.

Bill Cypher's laughter was a more pleasant sound than Mabel crying.

"Come on, Hambone." Soos gently rubbed Mabel's back in a valiant attempt to calm her. Dipper had done enough of that to know it wouldn't work. "Talk to me, here. I'm happy to see you, but what are you doing here? Where's your pare…"

"They don't know we're here." Dipper answered. Mabel wasn't going to be forming genuine words, much less sentences, for a while.

"What?"

"Soos, we need a place to stay, like… right now." Dipper chewed his lip. "I know it's sudden, but…"

"Say no more, Dip. Follow me right this way, please." Soos put on what Dipper assumed was his 'Mr. Mystery' voice. He no doubt hoped he could get a laugh or the beginnings of a smile out of Mabel.

Much to Dipper's immense joy and relief, he heard what might just have been a giggle from Mabel. It could have easily been another sob, but Dipper was trying his hardest to be optimistic after the last few days.

Being back on familiar ground, Dipper allowed himself the chance to relax the tiniest bit. So much so, he almost ran into Soos when the man stopped.

"So, good news, bad news, and awesome news, which first?" Soos chuckled nervously.

"Give me the bad…" Dipper really didn't know how much more he could take, but, like ripping off the proverbial band-aid, best to get it out of the way.

"Really? Uh… 'cause it might be better if you ask for good first…"

"Soos!"

"Okay, okay." Soos chuckled again, holding his hands up in surrender. "So, bad news is you're getting your surprise a bit earlier than planned."

"Supri…"

"Now the good news!" Soos announced, pushing the door open.

Dipper stared through the doorway in disbelief. This room hadn't been here before, not in any of the previous summers they spent in Gravity Falls. What should have opened up onto the back porch of the Mystery Shack instead led to another bedroom, one almost double the size of the attic room.

"We've been doing some remodeling, dude." Soos clapped a hand on Mabel and Dipper's shoulders. "We figure you've been getting cramped up in the attic room, and with Abuelita in the only other room, you guys could do with a bit more space."

Soos wasn't wrong, as they got older, the attic room was starting to becoming a little strained between the two of them. They rarely brought attention to it, though. It was only for the summer and they were close as twins could be. Back hom… back in Piedmont, the twins had moved into separate rooms a year back, but they still enjoyed the 'summer-long slumber party' of living in Gravity Falls.

"So, yeah… this was supposed to be your welcome back to Gravity Falls present, so yeah, surprise!" Soos scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Still needs a little cleaning and dusting."

"W… wow." Dipper stammered. Even Mabel had recovered from her slump to stare in awe.

"All we gotta do now is…"

"Way ahead of you, Soos." Melody gently pushed through the assembled group with broom, dustpan, and other cleaning supplies and a bag all in hand. "I'll have this fixed up in no time."

'Can I help?" Mabel's voice weakly came from Soos' side.

Dipper felt like cheering. It was the most words Mabel had said since they left Piedmont.

"Sure thing, dear." Melody smiled handing Mabel the broom. "We'll be able to work twice as fast! Soos, I went ahead and flipped the closed sign out front."

"Good thinkin', Mel." Flashing an approving thumbs up to Melody, Soos and Dipper made their way back back to the gift shop.

At Waddles insistence, Dipper removed the leash from the pig, whom eagerly rushed back to the dusty room to be with Mabel.

"Okay, Dipper. Spill." It was the serious tone in Soos' voice that made Dipper sure he had gotten as far as he could without at least some details. But first…

"Soos, you said some awesome news. What's that?" Dipper hung the leash up on a convenient hook behind the counter.

"Well, you see…" Soos was interrupted by the loud engine of a car approaching. This was in itself nothing that special, but Dipper knew the sound of that car, even if he hadn't heard it in a while. It was the screech of tires suddenly braking across the gravel of the parking lot that made Dipper inwardly panic.

They couldn't have found them this fast!

"Whoever comes through that door, me and Mabel are not here!" Dipper hissed, diving behind the counter.

"Dude…"

"Not here!" Dipper slammed a fist onto the solid wood, hoping it would get his point across. "Please, Soos, this is near life or death. Me and Mabel are not here. I swear, I'll explain everything later."

Maybe it was the nonviolent Dipper hitting the counter, maybe it was the way Dipper was all but begging. Whatever did it, Soos got the point. He gave a salute just in time for the front door to open. Dipper was barely able to duck in time.

The door wasn't exactly 'opened' from what Dipper heard. More like nearly knocked from its hinges by whoever their guest was.

"Soos, are they here?" That gravely voice was unmistakable. Although, right now, Dipper didn't know if it foretold doom, or their salvation.

"Mr. Pines!" Soos laughed nervously. He never was all that good at lying, too many tells. "I know you said you were coming, but…"

"Soos, the kids, are they here?"

"W…what kids?" Soos was already cracking. Dipper couldn't fault him, the man had a hero worship of Stan Pines going on before Dipper had even met the guy. The fact Soos lasted this long was a good show of how hard he was trying.

"Dipper and Mabel, are they here?" Oh, great. There was Ford, too. Both of their grunkles were present! They might have just jumped from the frying pan, only to skip the fire and go straight into the volcano.

Something was wrong, though. Stan and Ford sounded almost… panicked.

"Behind the counter…"

"Soos!" Dipper snarled, jumping to his feet.

"Sorry, dude…" Soos at least sounded apologetic.

"Mabel?" Stan demanded. Now Dipper saw his hands on Soos' shoulders.

"Back bedroom, with Melody." Soos didn't even try to conceal this one.

"Don't go near her!" Dipper attempted to head him off, but he was no match for Stan Pines in speed or strength. The man had already left the room before Dipper managed to jump over the counter. "No!"

Dipper knew he had to protect Mabel. It that meant from their own Grunkle, then he was perfectly fine with that.

"Dipper." Dipper didn't even get the chance to start his pursuit when a six-fingered hand appeared in front of him. "Stop."

It was a testament to Dipper's respect for Grunkle Ford that he didn't just shove past him. He was sorely tempted, Ford would have no doubt noticed this too from the way Dipper kept eyeing the way Stan ran.

"Out of my way, Grunkle Ford." Dipper, despite having grown a bit in the previous years, knew he wasn't that intimidating. He hoped his voice was making up for the difference. It seemed to work on poor Soos, the former handyman had actually taken a step back. Ford, however, had seen and experienced too much to be cowed so easily.

"Dipper." Ford repeated. "We know."

"They called you, didn't they?" Dipper could feel his heart sinking. He and Mabel were cornered like rats. With her upstairs, it was literal.

"Yes."

"So, what are you going to do?" Dipper's eyes narrowed while his eyes scanned his peripherals. He wasn't looking for a weapon, he wouldn't do that to Ford, but he was looking for an avenue of escape. He couldn't leave Mabel behind, a serious handicap, but one he was willing to deal with. "Drag us back, kicking and screaming?"

"Dipper…"

"We won't go."

"Dipper…"

"We'll…"

"Under most circumstances…" Ford didn't allow Dipper to interrupt him again. "That would be the appropriate action to take. But I know you, Dipper. You do not do rash or major decisions without good reason. You're better than that. I would expect this of your sister, but not you. The only logical conclusion is that you felt there was no other choice. As such, Stanley and I have agreed to reserve all judgement until we have heard you kids' side of the story."

"I'm just a dumb kid who doesn't understand." Dipper's words were positively dripping with venom. "Or know what's good for me and my sister."

"You, Dipper." Ford put a hand on his great nephew's shoulder. "Are wiser than your age would suggest. Your perspective is just as important."

They were allowed to plead their case. Dipper supposed it was better than nothing, but they were far from out of the woods yet.

"Now." Once upon a time, Ford would have kneeled to better be on Dipper's level. That was no longer necessary these days. "Start at the beginning. Tell me what happened. Leave nothing out."

"Our parents…" Mabel's voice came from the door to the living room. Dipper looked there and saw her standing beside a scowling Stan. Dipper couldn't remember the last time he saw Stan that angry. Grumpy or annoyed, sure, but this was pure rage. Mabel cleared her throat, seeming to draw strength from standing arm and arm with their grunkle. "Are getting divorced…"

* * *

**Reviews and comments are greatly appreciated. **


	2. Reunion

**I contemplated merging chapters 1 and 2, but decided I liked the cliffhanger at the end of chapter 1 too much to do that. **

**Enjoy**.

* * *

"Damn." Never in Dipper's life had he ever imagined Soos letting out even the simplest of swear words. The man was like the ultimate kindhearted human sized teddy bear.

Well, it did just about sum up everyone's thoughts.

"And…" Mabel wasn't quite done yet, and Dipper knew exactly what was coming next. It was the second worse part of what drove them to this. "Mom and dad tried to kill Waddles!"

"Mable, surely…" Ford didn't get far.

"Twice." Dipper sighed. It wasn't exactly a memory he was interested in revisiting, mostly for Mabel's sake.

"What?" Ford looked at Mabel, then back at Dipper, his features twisted into complete shock. "Why? As far as swine go, he is very well behaved and clean."

"He's a filthy animal." To everyone present, Dipper was speaking, but they all knew they were not his words to begin with. "He's growing too large to make a house pet. No daughter of mine is going to have a disgusting pig as a pet."

"She would like a puppy, or a kitten so much better!" Mabel followed up, anger rising. "Those are real pets, doncha know!"

"Mabel, let's just calm down for one…"

"No, Grunkle Ford!" Mabel shouted. "They lied to us, to me! They told me Waddles got out, went missing, poof into thin air. Know where Dipper found him?"

"Sweetie…" Stan's attempt to defuse the girl fell on deaf ears.

"IN A KILL SHELTER!" Mabel took a number of steadying breaths before whispering softly. "Sorry."

"Don't you apologize." Stan always did have a way with Mabel. "You've got nothin' to be sorry for."

Before anyone else could say or do more, Dipper heard the sound of another car outside. Much like Stan's, this one screeched as its driver slammed on their brakes at nearly the last instant. Had they hit the pedal any later, they might have just crashed through the gift shop's front door.

Whoever they were, they must have been in a hell of a rush.

Again fearing the worst, Dipper darted around Ford to grab Mabel by the hand. She must have had the same idea, because the instant Dipper did so, she in turn gripped his. Now that he had his sister this time, Dipper was more than ready to run.

The younger set of twins didn't even get to blink before there was a crash of the wooden door being thrown open. That poor door finally had enough, this last hit didn't so much as knock it off its hinges, as break it free from its frame.

Dipper caught sight of a red and bluish blur before thin, yet strong, arms wound around him and Mabel both. While said arms nearly crushed the life out of him and his sister, an all too familiar scent of earth and wood resin reached his nostrils.

A scent that seemed to cling to a specific person Dipper remembered quite fondly from his time in Gravity Falls.

"Wendy?!" Dipper and Mabel both exclaimed in unison.

"Gotta say." Wendy was grinning like a kid on Christmas Eve. "Thought she was pulling my leg when she said you guys were back in town."

It was strange seeing Wendy, not bad strange but good strange. It occurred to Dipper that he'd only ever seen her during Summer. Seeing as how they were in the early days of spring, she was of course bundled up in a heavier coat instead of that green flannel shirt Dipper remembered so vividly. In addition to… hey, was that his hat she was wearing?

Also, how the hell Wendy even know they were here? She couldn't have seen them when they got off the bus, she'd have greeted them then and there knowing her.

From the corner of his eye, Dipper caught sight of Melody returning from upstairs while pocketing a cell phone. There was one mystery discovered and solved in record time.

"What brings you two up here? Why didn't you… let me know you were coming… up?" It slowly dawned on Wendy that something wasn't right. Now that the initial shock had worn off, she had to have felt the skyrocketing tension that filled the room. "Uh… any one wanna let me in the loop?"

"Dipper and Hambone are on the lam, dawg." Soos was just as deathly serious as Stan and Ford. "Mom and pop don't know they're here."

"What?" Wendy laughed. "No way. Nice joke, guys. Little lame, but it was a good try."

Nobody else was laughing.

Upon noticing this, Wendy humor abruptly died. "Dudes, what the hell is going on? All I got from Melody was you guys showed up at the shack."

"Mom and dad wanted to kill Waddles!" Mabel blurted. The pig in question oinked at her ankles, as if trying to confirm she was right.

Wendy had to do a double take. "They… what?"

"Dipper was able to rescue him just in time." Mabel beamed, reaching down to try and hoist up the pig. She regularly forgot that he'd grown too large to be able to do that, anymore. Like Dipper, Mabel had done some growing up herself, but she still didn't have the physical ability to pick Waddles up like she used to. Didn't stop her from trying. "You should have seen my bro!"

* * *

Dipper dove from shadow to shadow. It was nighttime, but the streetlights gave off more than enough light to allow the guards to spot him if they caught him in their sights. He had to be stealthy, his target depended on it.

The obvious approach, the fence, was out of the question. The sharp wires around the top would be a recipe for total disaster if he tried to climb it. With that route closed off, he had no choice but to climb the wall of the building itself. Normally, such a thing would be impossible, due to a lack of places to grip. Thankfully, he had thought to bring…

Mabel's awesome grappling hook!

Taking aim, Dipper fired the device over the side and onto the roof. After tugging a few times on the line to test its strength, he began his ascent.

Dipper only made it halfway up before the unthinkable happened.

The line came loose.

He began to fall, but Dipper kept a cool head. Luckily, the metal hook caught somewhere else on the roof and stopped him midfall, but in his haste to swing across to what he hoped was a place to grip, he had built up too much momentum. Weaving through the air, he barely missed the fence's razor wire by a few inches at most.

Releasing the line, Dipper did a somersault in midair and…

* * *

"Mabel…" Dipper pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "That isn't what happened at all! You weren't even there."

Mabel gave a meek shrug muttering under her breath. Dipper heard, and maybe Wendy, but no one else was close enough to do so. "Just wanted you to sound like the hero you were to me."

No, Dipper wasn't upset in the slightest. If Mabel was back to telling fantastical stories like that one, maybe Gravity Falls really was helping the girl back to her old bubbly self. Under any other circumstances, he might have just let her continue on, but they needed to hear the truth.

* * *

"Okay, this should be the place. If I'm right, he'll be here." Dipper peered through the fence. The place wasn't that large, mostly just a single larger building with a few smaller ones scattered around. "Please, please be wrong, Dipper."

Scaling the fence was no issue. It wasn't the first time he'd done it, maybe not the same one fence, but still. Once on the other side, he had to dive for cover behind a dumpster when he thought he heard someone approaching. Luckily, it was nothing, just a car passing.

It was after hours, in the middle of the night. There shouldn't be anyone here, but Dipper didn't want to take the chance and risk detection. Unless he was sure the place was empty, he needed to play this quick and quiet. If he had more time, he would have scouted ahead of time, but this was a luxury he couldn't afford.

Avoiding any potential illumination from the outside streetlights, Dipper made his way across the yard into one of the small outbuildings. Just as he hoped, the door wasn't locked. The people running the place must be putting all their trust in the fence's locks.

Now inside, Dipper found the place to be living space for animals staying at the shelter. Most of the cages and stalls were empty, but a handful were occupied.

This was the reason he had to do this alone. As much as he loved his sister, they couldn't afford her to get emotional about all the other animals here they couldn't save. With no sign of his target, Dipper left the building and slipped into the next closest one.

Again, more animals, but not what he was looking for.

At last, Dipper came to the main building itself. Unlike the outbuildings, this one's door was actually locked. A quick search around the back revealed an open window. It was small, had Dipper been thirteen again, he would have easily fit, but that was no longer the case. He may not be as young anymore, but he still had the build of a scarecrow. He was able to heave himself through.

There was more office space and worktables than anything here, but Dipper wasn't going to be satisfied until he'd searched every last square inch of the property. Up to and including waste bens and dumpsters.

Dipper stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a familiar squeal.

"Found you!" Dipper felt like cheering. Rushing over to the closed cage, he was greeted with a flurry of oinks from his sister's pet, Waddles. Dipper put his finger to his lips in an attempt to quiet the scared animal. "Shh!"

Waddles went silent.

"Hang tight, buddy." Dipper put a hand against the cage's door. "Let me find the key. I'm getting you back home to Mabel."

At the sound of his dearest friend's name, Waddles squealed happily before quieting himself again.

"Smart pig." Dipper chuckled.

The cage key had to be around here, somewhere. Maybe on that table over there?

Fortune was on Dipper's side. Searching the worktables clutter and papers, Dipper found an entire keyring, finding the correct one would be trivial, but something else caught the boy's eye.

It was dumb luck, really. Dipper just happened to see one of the papers with Waddles name written on it. Indulging in his curiosity, Dipper grabbed the paper and scanned over its contents.

The words made Dipper's blood run cold.

"We are leaving, now." After what he just read, had Dipper not found the keys as quick as he did, he would have just taken the nearest blunt object and smashed the lock. "Come on."

As soon as the cage was opened, Waddles all too happily jumped out, nearly knocking Dipper over trying to lick at his face.

"No time for that." Dipper chuckled, momentarily forgetting what he saw. With his objective acquired, Dipper relocked the cage, threw the keys on the table, and dashed for the exit, Waddles following closely at his feet.

* * *

"Paperwork from the shelter." Dipper produced from his backpack the folded sheet of paper he'd swiped and handed it to Ford. "Read it, out loud, Grunkle Ford."

Ford did just that. That same document Dipper had read over a dozen times, hoping he'd misread it each time. It started out simple, what type of animal Waddles was, his measurements, name, things like that. But the line toward the bottom? That was where the horror set in. "At request of owners, scheduled at 4:30 p.m. for…" Dipper didn't, no, nobody present missed the way Ford's voice hitched. "Euthanizing."

"Uh… sorry guys, but what does…"

"It means they were going to put him down, Soos." Wendy choked back all snippy comments, knowing full well he wasn't being insensitive, he just didn't know.

"Oh."

"Dipper. You said twice." Ford realized it first. "If that was the first, what was the second?"

"I didn't want to believe mom and dad really turned Waddles over to the shelter." Mabel answered. "Dipper showed me the paper but, like a moron, I didn't believe him… didn't want to. It's just a mistake, I said. A misunderstanding. But then…"

"A few days later, I caught mom trying to leave with Waddles." Dipper picked up where his twin left off when she couldn't continue. "She told me she was taking him for a walk in the front yard but she was dragging him the leash. He didn't want to go, anybody could see that."

"She coulda have been…"

"No, Grunkle Stan. Her car was parked out front and running. She was caught but tried to lie her way out of it like I was too stupid to catch on. If I hadn't of come home early after school, we would have lost Waddles again."

"We left pretty quick after that." Mabel leaned down to pat Waddles on the head. "I never let him leave my side 'til then."

"This can't be it." Wendy looked to Dipper and Mabel. "Guys, no offense to you and Waddles, but that seems a really lousy reason to run away from home. I mean, is…"

"Oh, no." Mabel's lips lifted in a smile again, but once more it was a bitter one. "Waddles wasn't the only reason. Our parents are getting divorced."

"Ouch." Wendy winced. "I'm so sorry. No kids should have to go through…"

"Ding ding, the fun train hasn't reached the last stop yet!" Mabel singsonged, almost cheerily. Not for the first time, Dipper truly wondered if Mabel really had gone off the deep end. But he supposed this was her way. "Wanna tell them, Dippingsauce? Or shall I?"

And here they had at last come to the thing, the final spark that ignited the powder keg that had been building beneath the Piedmont dwelling branch of the Pines family. What could have possibly been it? What could have made Dipper Pines, master of planning and thinking every tiny little act through a thousand times over, do something so abrupt, so world altering, as this?

"Once the divorce was finalized…" Dipper swallowed past the lump building in his throat. "Mabel and mom were going to stay in Piedmont. But dad and I were moving. To the other side of the country for dad's work. And they said... neither of us would be coming back to Gravity Falls ever again…"

There was a crash of shattering glass from nearby. From the corner of his eye, Dipper could faintly see the outline of Soos rushing to broom up the remnants of the glass bottle he'd dropped.

Nobody could speak. Expressions on those present ranged from Ford and Stan's disbelief, to Soos' confusion, all the way to some bizarre combination of fury and terror on Wendy. If Dipper thought the redhead was going to crush him to death a minute ago, that had nothing on how intense her hold on him and Mabel had become.

"Mom and dad gave us no choice." Mabel gripped her twin's hand, only now did Dipper notice they hadn't let go. "After everything we went through with Weirdmageddon… and Mabeland… we found each other after all that. I didn't want to… couldn't, leave my Bro-bro."

"It was my idea!" Dipper was perfectly willing to admit to being the mastermind. If there came any kind of punishment for this hairbrained scheme, he'd take every scrap of it. "Mabel was completely…"

"On board as soon as he suggested it!" Mabel slapped a hand over her twin's mouth to shut him up. "I'm like the… the co-planner."

"Dipper." Dipper internally paled. He hadn't heard Ford sound like this since that time he put the mind reading helmet on him. "What you did was extremely foolish and irresponsible. Any number of things could have happened, could still happen. Do you understand what you've gotten yourself and your sister into? How risky this was?"

"I do." Dipper was having a mild heart attack, but stubbornly held his ground before his grunkle. "And I'd do it again."

"Me, too!" Mabel quickly shrunk when Ford's glare turned on her.

Ford's six-fingered hand found its way to Dipper's shoulder again. At first, Dipper thought he was going to shake him, maybe in an attempt to make Dipper see sense. But that never happened.

"Dipper." Ford's countenance visibly softened. "Forty years ago, I was faced with the same situation. When my brother needed me most, I turned my back on him. It was one of the greatest mistakes of my life. You had the courage to do what I could, what I would, not."

Much to Dipper's surprise, and most of the spectators around them, Ford pulled the boy in for a hug.

"I'm proud of you."

After a whole second and a half, Dipper mentally counted, Mabel made her approach. Her own arms snaking around her brother and grunkle. An additional three seconds later, Dipper heard a grumble of "eh, what the heck" before Stan himself joined in.

"Comin' in, dawgs." Soos came next, almost immediately after Stan.

"We gotcha." To Dipper's somewhat shock, Wendy had no intentions of being left out.

Nobody could see it save Dipper, but Mabel's smile easily outshone the sun.

"Okay, okay, that's enough mushy stuff." Stan was first to pull away, but even he couldn't get away with a happy Mabel clinging to his waist. "First things first, we need to come up with some kind of plan of attack."

"Agreed, Stanley." Ford said. "We should…"

Dipper's stomach chose then to remind him of its displeasure with some of his recent life choices with a mortifyingly loud growl.

"Dude, when was the last time you ate something?" Wendy's concern would be touching, if Dipper hadn't been trying to not die from embarrassment. Something of which he was failing spectacularly.

'Well, we skipped breakfast the day we left." Dipper felt smaller with each word. "We snatched some snacks on the way out, but neither of us really had much of an appetite, so… a while?"

Wendy was not amused, her hand gripping his jacket by its collar. "Okay, plan of attack phase one, you." Her other hand found the matching spot on Mabel. "And you, are coming with me down to Greasy's Diner for some decent food. I'm buyin'."

"Wendy, I don't know if we should have them…"

"Stow it, Ford." Stan gently pushed his brother aside. Pulling out his wallet, he handed Wendy a number of bills. "Here, you three kids get whatever you want, heck, go nuts. They could use some normalcy. While you're keepin' em' busy, we'll see about getting the that room back up to snuff."

Mabel perked up at Stan's offer. Dipper could already see the uncontrollable hamster wheel turning in his twin's brain. Knowing their luck, they were going to have to carry the girl back to the car once she ate her self into a near coma.

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Ford reluctantly agreed. "But keep your heads down, and your eyes open until we figure out what to do next."

"No problemo, dude." Gripping the twins by their coats, she pulled them both out the door. Good thing they were happy to come of their own free will, Wendy didn't seem to be in a mood for dissent.

* * *

**I'm finding this a bit easier to write than I expected to. Let me know what you all think. **


	3. Respite

**I have to be honest, this is going over a bit better than I expected. I fully expected to get no reviews/comments. Glad to see I was wrong. Thank you everyone who has been reading and leaving a review/comment, it means a lot. **

**I'm happy to hear any and all suggestions. Whether it is for this work or any other works my readers want to see. I hope to write more works for Wenpines or Gravity Falls once this one is over but that is all dependent on if people are reading them. **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

The idea of a proper Gravity Falls meal would have been more than enough to motivate Dipper, but throw in his sister and dear friend Wendy? He couldn't have asked for a better 'welcome back' present than that.

"Don't worry, you're safe here." Mabel bent down to scratch Waddles behind the ear.

"I'll get him some lunch, too." Melody patted the pig on the head. "I'll look after him until you get back. Don't you worry."

Only once Dipper, Mabel, and Wendy were outside did he notice something he'd missed.

"You got wheels!" Mabel squawked, already sprinting to the red pickup truck.

"Yup. Birthday present from my dad for my eighteenth." Wendy grinned before tapping her fist on the hood a couple times. "She may not look like much, but this is, like, my noble steed."

The truck was the very definition of a rust bucket. If Dipper didn't know better, he'd say it looked like it belonged more in a junkyard than as a personal vehicle. Splotches of rust and chipped paint, a cracked headlight, all kinds of assorted problems. Hold on, shouldn't the front bumper be about fifty percent longer, or was half missing?

Definite rust bucket, but Wendy seemed proud of it. In Dipper's eyes, that practically made the thing a chariot of the gods.

"Shotgun!" Mabel tossed her backpack into the bed of the truck and attempted to dive into the cab.

"Watch the…" Wendy's warning came too late.

In her eagerness to get in and claim the coveted position of shotgun, Mabel hadn't waited to hear Wendy's warning about the door on the passenger side. What was supposed to be a quick yank open the door and jump in, instead turned into an attempt to open said door and then faceplant into the door when it wouldn't open.

"I'm okay!" Mabel announced before attempting to open it again, with limited success.

"Watch the door, it likes to stick." Wendy smirked and moved around the truck to force the latch on the handle open. Once done, Wendy waved an arm and held the door open for Mabel. "Your majesty."

"Why, thank you, Miss Corduroy." Mabel giggled and managed to get inside the truck this time.

"You're a dork." Dipper didn't even try to mask his affection. He'd already ditched his own pack, having taken the middle seat because he climbed in from the driver's side.

"Aw, you love me, Dipstick." Mabel dramatically flopped her head on Dipper's shoulder, along with most of her back.

"Guilty as charged." Dipper bumped Mabel's knee with his own. "Hey, Wendy, you did get your license, right?"

"Yup. Not like that would have stopped me anyway." Wendy, having taken the driver's seat, brushed off all further queries as they turned out of the driveway and out onto the road itself. "Nobody actually pays much attention to that around here in Gravity Falls."

Riding in the car with Wendy driving for the first time, Weirdmageddon notwithstanding, was surprisingly… calm. Dipper had expected her to be one of those crazy speed demons behind the wheel but she was oddly gentle and attentive.

At Dipper's side, Mabel was enjoying her window seat, watching as the Gravity Falls scenery flew by at a relaxed pace. Wendy's smooth driving was giving the girl, and Dipper if he'd been interested, a perfect opportunity to take in the view they both hadn't seen since the previous summer.

Wait, was that a cluster of gnomes they just passed? Dipper hadn't seen anything remotely paranormal after they went back to Piedmont after that first summer. While they spent the next couple here, a lot of the overall weirdness never matched that first. They still had a fair share of adventures, but nothing like that first one.

Dipper figured they'd become immune to strangeness.

Dipper had missed the residents of this town a bit more than he'd thought. He might, later, try to go say hello to some of them. He knew Mabel would be delighted by the idea to see their summer friends, human and supernatural both.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Dipper's face darkened. It might be a smarter move to keep it quiet that they were back. It was a small town, and news tends to travel fast. It would be nothing for their parents to catch wind they were here and come running.

What if…

No, Dipper was going to have a nice mildly late lunch with his sister and Wendy. No more thinking about this and pondering what ifs and hows. For once, he was going to take a breath and 'go with the flow' as Mabel would put it.

Their next action could be figured out once they got back to the Mystery Shack.

Mabel's hand reached over to softly grip Dipper's leg. She never took her eyes off the window, neither did she say a single word. Dipper and Mabel may not have that twin ESP you see in the movies, but Dipper was able to determine his sister's thoughts easily enough.

I missed this place.

Greasy's Diner wound up being practically devoid of life. It would have been reassuring for Ford that they wouldn't have anyone yelling from the rooftops to everyone they saw that Dipper and Mabel had returned.

"Well lookie who it is." The familiar sight of Lazy Susan sauntered over, notepad in hand, once Wendy, Dipper, and Mabel had taken a seat at one of the booths. "Ain't seen you two for a while."

"Yeah, we just got back in town like half an hour ago." Dipper laughed nervously. Susan would mean well, but she was just the kind of person to blab to everyone she sees here in the diner. Which was… most of Gravity Falls. Greasy's Diner might have been a poor choice. Maybe they should have…

Oh, for the love of… Dipper was doing it again! Gah, why couldn't he just stop his brain for three seconds!

"They were hoping to surprise some of our friends, so mums the word, Susan." Wendy added with a wink and that mouth zipping gesture she shared often with Dipper.

"I got you." Susan forcibly winked her bad eye with her fingers. "What'll we be havin' today?"

Once their food was ordered and Susan was walking back to the kitchen, Dipper felt Wendy's foot jab him in the shin.

"Dude, ease up." Wendy said. "You're looking tenser than Stan when somebody finds his secret cash stash."

"I can't help it." Dipper freely admitted.

"Take a breath, Dipper!" Mabel threw an arm around her brother. "We're back in Gravity Falls. Take in the sights, the smells…"

Mabel's head instantly perked up toward the kitchen.

"Uh, Mabel? You okay?" Dipper looked over at his sister but she had a faraway expression.

"I smell…" Mabel sniffed the air. "PANCAKES!"

"Mabel, it's one o'clock. Why did you order pancakes?"

"Pfft. Pancakes are the perfect food for all hours, Dip. You should have figured that out by now."

"Girl's got a point."

"Jeez, Wendy. Gang up on me, why don't you."

"Hey, you're missing something." Wendy suddenly turned super serious, leaning across the table to stare Dipper directly in the eye.

"W…what?" Dipper gulped at the attention. The sight of Wendy's green eyes so close was dredging up a number of emotions from the first summer that Dipper had tried his absolute hardest to bury every summer he returned to this town. And those cute freckles dotting her cheeks were not helping.

'Whoa, we are NOT going there!' Dipper mentally scolded himself.

'You know she's only gotten hotter as she's aged.' Dipper's Brain said. 'Deny all you want, you can't lie in here.'

'Not having this talk, again.' Dipper, in a monumental effort, shut off all those thoughts. Somehow, he had a feeling he hadn't seen the last of them.

When Wendy reached across the table, Dipper at first thought she was going to smack him. Instead, she ruffled the hair atop his head. Why, Dipper didn't know, it wasn't like he was wearing a…

Hat!

"Wait here." Dipper flew from their booth and out the door back to Wendy's truck. He returned in record time holding a certain lumberjack hat out like a precious offering.

"And here I was worried you'd trashed..." Wendy hadn't meant it as anything serious, but at the sight of matching somber looks of the twins, she knew something was up. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No." Both twins spoke, neither pair of eyes on Wendy.

"I don't think she'll mind if we tell her." Mabel fiddled with the stitching on the arm of her sweater. "Not like it was your fault."

"Feels like it."

"It wasn't." Mabel was a bit more forceful this time, a rarity.

"Somebody want to clue me in, here?" Wendy questioned. "I keep getting left in the dark."

"Mom and dad tried to trash it." Mabel instantly clapped hands over her mouth, shooting an apologetic look over to her brother. "Sorry! I should have asked if you were okay with telling her."

"It's fine, Mabel." Dipper patted his sister on the leg.

"Why, though?" Wendy reached for the hat which Dipper passed over to her. "I mean, I always figured it was okay. Really warm for the winter and fall months, maybe a bit much for Summer but I think it looks cool. And…" Wendy brought it to her nose and took a whiff, "you've even been keeping it clean. It smells better than it did when I had it."

Dipper almost made a comment about liking the scent better when he'd first gotten it from Wendy, but he'd bitten down on his tongue just in time to stop himself. Because something like that totally wasn't creepy at all.

"Mom thought it was ugly and a boy shouldn't be wearing something like that." Dipper scowled deeply at the memory.

"Dipper went full on cray-cray when he found out it was missing." Mabel looked down at the table, lost in memory herself. "We woke up one morning and bam, hat gonzo."

"I may or may not have torn most of the house apart trying to find it." Dipper chucked. He could still recall the scolding he got over that. "Mabel was the one who found it."

"In a dumpster." Now Mabel was the one scowling. "What else was I supposed to do? I jumped in after it."

"Hold the phone." Wendy's eyes went wide. "You, Mabel Pines, went dumpster diving for my hat?"

"She's not telling you that it was the third dumpster she found it in." Dipper added.

"I had to make sure." A faint flush crept up Mabel's neck. "We'd run out of places to check!"

"She saved my hide from the dumpster, so I saved her bacon from the shelter." The joke sounded way better in Dipper's head than it did out loud.

"Eww, Dip, really?" Mabel scrunched up her nose but anybody with eyes could see she was suppressing her giggle.

"Mystery twins." Dipper and Mabel spoke at once, tapping their fists together. "Boosh!"

"And let's not forget Dipper sleeping with the thing every night like a stuffed animal."

"I thought it would go missing again!"

While the twins were going at it, their food arrived but they hadn't noticed. Susan just smiled, while Wendy shrugged, and placed the plates down and walked away.

"I'm not hearing a denial, here!"

"I… that's… ugh, I quit!"

"You can't quit on me, I'm your sister." Mabel stuck her tongue out. "You're stuck with me. And there's not a thing you can do about… pancakes!"

"Pancakes?" Dipper glanced back at the table. "Oh."

Wendy could only laugh.

"Seriously." Wendy stifled her mirth. "If you guys are safe anywhere, it's here. So relax, cut loose some."

"I know, I know." Dipper sighed. "It's just… hard to. I keep thinking mom and dad are right around the corner. I know I don't look like it, but I'm straight up jumping at shadows."

"Aww… bro." Mabel leaned over to give her brother's arm a small hug.

"Hey, worst comes to worst, we can always go with Plan B." Wendy snatched a fry from Dipper's plate and popped it into her mouth.

"Do I even want to know what Plan B is?"

"You two hop into my truck with bags packed, we drive until the next town over, then we take a map and a let a game of blindfolded darts decide where we go next." Wendy took a bite from her own burger after speaking, like what she just suggested was no big deal at all. "Plan B."

"Ooh! I like it! Wenpines road trip!" Mabel cheered, doing what Dipper assumed was some kind of happy dance in her seat beside him. To him it looked more like she was wiggling around. "Woo-hoo!" Her face turned deadly serious while she turned to Dipper. "Before I forget… shotgun!"

"Jeeze, Mabel." Dipper glared at his sibling. "You don't need to sound so defensive over it. The cab isn't that big."

"Detials, details." Mabel scoffed. "I still called it."

Yeah, shotgun or no, it was a nice pipe dream, but that was all it was. An interesting and exciting idea, sure, but not one they'd actually be able to do.

"What is this, I see?" The tone in Wendy's voice as she shifted topics is what set off alarm bells in Dipper's head. It sounded almost, dare he say it, flirty.

Looking up from his burger, Dipper was once more greeted by the sight of Wendy leaning across the table toward him. Those da… dang freckles again!

'Dipper…'

'Not now, brain!'

It took every ounce of willpower Dipper had not to shiver when he felt Wendy's fingertips slide along his jaw. "Is this some fuzz I'm feelin' here?"

"You better believe it!" Mabel proudly declared while grabbing Dipper's hand to hold in the air. "Give it up people, my brother is officially becoming manly! Now all we gotta do is work on the chest hair."

"I agree, lookin' good, Dipper." Wendy winked.

"This is so not fair." Dipper gave the two girls his best annoyed look. While he normally found Mabel's antics amusing, they were less so in front of Wendy. "You keep ganging up on me!"

"Not our fault." Mabel shrugged. "You're the dummy hanging out with two girls at once."

"Yeah, we womenfolk gotta press our advantage."

"See, Bro? Wendy gets it!"

"I give up." Dipper, after pushing his plate aside, let his head fall to the table with a solid thump.

"Aww, Dip, what would you do without awesome people like us?" Mabel threw her hand up for Wendy to give her a high-five.

"Enjoy the peace and quiet, maybe?"

* * *

Watching the younger Pines twins go, Melody took Waddles to the kitchen in search of something for the pig to eat. Soos headed back to get to work on making the bedroom properly livable. The older Pines twins retreated to the rear porch for a private chat.

"It's not your fault, Stanley." Ford spoke up the moment they were out of earshot of Soos and Melody.

"It was my idea to force the pig to go home with them. If they'd… it would have been on my head."

"And I wasn't supporting you?" Ford sighed. "Look, if that had happened, it would not have been your fault, nor my fault. We were not the ones to make that decision."

"What is up with Charlette and Daniel?" Stan sat down on a nearby chair. "This all just seems… I dunno, a little extreme? For crying out loud, no offense to Mabel, but it's just a pig. There are far worse pets."

"I think their attempts to dispose of Mabel's pet were merely a symptom, not the sickness." Ford leaned against the wall beside his brother with his arms folded. "I may not have much experience with people or relationships, but even I know divorce can be a terrible beast. It's rare for everyone to walk away clean."

"Especially the kids." Stan continued. "They're often the one gettin' hit worst."

"Are you surprised?" Having grown tired of standing, Ford dragged another chair over to sit beside Stan. "That Dipper and Mabel would do this? Run away from home to Gravity Falls."

"Not in the slightest."

"I've been across countless dimensions and worlds." Ford's lips lifted in a smile. "And I'm not a religious man, but neither god himself nor anything out there in the wide multiverse could keep those two apart if they didn't want it."

"They look after each other." Stan supplied. "That's the way family should be."

"Yes…"

"Eh, we got to that party a bit late but we still got there, Ford." Stan's face fell. "We still gotta figure out what we're gonna do."

"Agreed." Ford stood and began pacing, he never did have an easy time with just sitting down while thinking. "With all facts and evidence, I won't lie, things look grim."

"And you and I both know we got lied to, too." Stan growled. He'd been the one to actually get the phone call that led the brothers to return to Gravity Falls at the precise moment.

Ford and Stan had just returned from their latest trip, a foray into northern Canada and were planning their next excursion when they'd gotten the phone call from their niece and nephew about the missing kids.

Poor Charlette had been near hysterical but Ford couldn't blame her for that. No proper mother can keep calm while their children were gone without a trace. He would have been more worried if she had been.

Unfortunately for Charlette, Ford and Stan hadn't heard from nor seen Dipper and Mabel since the previous summer. She didn't take that well, but asked them to keep an watch for them, or a message from them.

With great nephew and niece having vanished, the elder Pines twins booked it at record speed to Gravity Falls to check up on old friends to see if they knew anything. They tried calling, but didn't get an answer. While it had been worrying, they were already in the neighborhood, anyway.

Imagine their surprise when they'd arrived at their first stop, the Mystery Shack, and found said missing kids already there.

While Ford had taken what they were told at face value, Stan was not so convinced. He'd suspected something was off from the beginning, something Ford chalked up to his survival instincts. As it turned out, the Stan had hit the nail on the head.

Stan straight up asked if there were any issues at the Pines household that could give them any clues. New friends, potential changes, things like that. 'The tiniest clue could have a huge impact' were Ford's words but Stan borrowed them.

Charlette did confess about the upcoming divorce. While terrible, it hadn't been what Stan was looking for. His next question was where everything fell into place.

Who was going to get custody of Dipper and Mabel?

According to Charlette, after some heavy discussion with her soon to be ex-husband, she was. Again, Ford had taken this as truth right then and there. Stan hadn't been persuaded at all. His exact words were "I don't think she's telling the truth. Her voice doesn't sound right, like she's hidin' something".

Not only this, they'd been told Daniel would remain in California so the kids could still see their father every once in a while. A good arrangement, or so Ford thought.

Dipper was many things, but a liar was not one of them. If he thought he and his dad were moving elsewhere in the country and never returning to Gravity Falls, he'd have good reason to. Whether it was overhearing conversations or seeing written evidence. Between Dipper's own words and Stan's gut instincts, Ford was inclined to believe his brother and great nephew.

They were indeed being lied to, but the real question, was why?

"Ironic, isn't it?"

"What's that?" Ford ceased pacing mid-step and turned to his brother.

"After all the things those kids have gone through, all the weird, the danger, and the damn near end of the world, the biggest threat is something so…

"Mundane?"

"Yeah."

"I fear this is not something we can fight, Stanley."

"So, what, you just sayin' we give up? Hand those kids over to their parents?" Stan snarled. "Over my dead body."

"No. All I'm saying is if we try to fight this out in the open, we will lose. I mean, look at us, are really fit to be guardians?"

"Hell yeah, we are." Stan didn't hesitate. "We'd be great! I mean, we got our hang-ups, but we love those kids."

"And I would be inclined to agree, but what would Family Services think of us?" Ford rubbed his temples. "We're both practically criminals in the eyes of the law."

"Yeah." Stan shrunk a little at that, knowing full well it was his fault their reputations were so sour. Ford had long ago come to terms with that bit of bad news.

"Not important." Ford waved a hand. "What I am trying to say is, we can't do it by traditional means, but we are going to fight back."

"Am I hearin' what I think I'm hearin'?" Stan was on his feet now with that devious smirk of his lighting up his features.

"Dipper and Mabel fought alongside us to save this entire dimension from Bill. I'm not going to let them be broken apart because our nephew and his wife are having a family spat. You said it yourself, over my dead body."

"Kinda sounds like we found our next adventure." Stan draped and arm over Ford's shoulders. "Right?"

"Right. Perhaps the most important adventure we are ever going to have."

"Come on, Ford. Say it with me." One arm still around Ford, Stan held his other hand high. "Pines!"

There was a time Ford would have rolled his eyes at his brother's antics. Maybe even given him a lecture about how he needed to grow up a bit more. But those times were long past.

Moving his own arm around Stan, Ford copies the gesture. "Pines!"

"Pines!"

"Pines!"

"PINES!"

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**Reviews/comments are deeply appreciated! Thanks for reading. **


	4. Signals

**After doing some thinking, I realized I'd written myself into something of a corner. I figured out where I wanted to take this, but where I started from made it make no sense. Therefore, I was forced to edit and do a little rewriting on the previous chapters to age the characters up a bit, and make a few other changes so I could go where I wanted to make it go. Plus a few scenes I simply forgot to add. So it may be a good idea to reread the chapters before this one. **

**Normally I don't do such extensive rewrites of previous chapters like that, but I don't do multi-chapter works often, plus I like this one. **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

"Dude, I'm starting to think this thing is, like, cursed or somethin'."

"I know, Soos, why won't it just stay on?" Dipper hesitantly released his hold. He breathed a sigh of relief when the object stayed put. "I mean, come on! It's just a wooden S!"

"Well, I think we finally got it this time, dawg." Soos held a hand up.

"Finally!" Dipper slapped his palm against the former handyman's. Wiping sweat from his brow with his opposite arm, he spoke again. "How many nails did you put in that, anyway?"

"I dunno." Soos scratched his head. "Wasn't counting. Seven or so, maybe?"

Just then, a mild gust of wind blew over the pair. Dipper was glad for the cooler air but he didn't miss how the S started rattling, even with all the nails in it. He and Soos both slapped a hand over the thing before it could even try to fall again.

"Aw, come on!" Dipper groaned.

"Maybe we need some, like, magical superglue. Nails aren't cuttin' it, anymore." Soos gave the S a small shake and, sure enough, it was still loose. "Think Ford might know where to get some?"

"Actually…" Dipper recalled the misadventure with the crashed alien spaceship. "It's not magic, but he does have something. Bit overkill, but it would work. I don't want to go rooting around in his lab until he and Grunkle Stan get back, though."

"Good idea, dude." Soos nodded in agreement. "Our luck, we might, like, destroy half of Gravity Falls or the shack with something we find in there."

"How much we got left of the roof?" Dipper held up his hand in a vain attempt to block some of the sun's rays. Good thing he hadn't worn Wendy's lumberjack hat today, not only would he have cooked alive, but he'd have gotten it all sweaty and filthy.

"Bit of tar to put in some spots and we're all done, dude." Soos said, searching around for the tar gun they'd brought up with them.

Dipper wouldn't have thought it possible, but things had settled after a few days. He and Mabel took up their new room at the Mystery Shack and it almost seemed like summer never ended. Other than Wendy and her friends had to go to school during the day, only a tiny handful of tourists, and the fact that Dipper and Mabel had to basically hide out at the Mystery Shack.

At least Mabel managed to reconnect with Candy and Grenda, even if the girls were having difficulty working out the mechanics for their slumber parties. They couldn't do them at the shack since Mabel was 'out of town' and Mabel couldn't join them at their houses for obvious reasons.

Much to Ford's chagrin, they couldn't come up with a plan better than what Mabel called "Operation- Hide and Seek". So far it was working quite well, nobody had seen hide nor hair of anyone searching for them here in Gravity Falls.

The elder Pines twins, in an attempt to sell the deception, were on a small road trip around Oregon. As part of their cover, Stan had concocted a story about several places in Oregon that they'd visited on their other road trip that first summer. The one where Stan tried to sabotage the other state tourist traps. They were searching out places that Dipper or Mabel had liked and could have taken shelter in. Seeing as how Ford and Stan were already in Oregon, they were happy to investigate these locations for signs of the missing twins. In addition to that, they had friends watching Gravity Falls in case they showed up there.

The plan was far from airtight, but it was a functional one.

Mabel was fine with things being what they were, but Dipper knew they couldn't go like this forever. What about school? The twins still had a couple years of high school left before they could graduate. While Dipper could take that apprentice with Ford, would he really be willing, or able, to homeschool Mabel, too? What about when they eventually grew up? What were they supposed to do, use fake IDs and false names to the end of their days? Well, it worked for Stan… sort of.

What if they did get caught? It wouldn't be Dipper and Mabel who took the punishment. Oh, sure, there might be hell to pay once they were 'safely returned home', but the law wouldn't look kindly on their Grunkles and Soos. Kidnapping charges would be the best-case scenario on that front.

Then there was Charlette and Daniel. As much as he was upset with his mother and father, they were still his and Mabel's parents. He hated to imagine what they were going through with their only children missing, but they'd brought this upon themselves by trying to split them up.

Ugh… no matter how many times he thought that, it still sounded so childish in Dipper's head.

Maybe once his grunkles returned, Dipper would bring up the idea of leaving a message for their parents to find. One telling them that they were safe and happy and to stop looking for them. They would probably ignore it, but it was a thought.

"Have no fear!" A voice suddenly yelled from the trapdoor, nearly scaring Dipper right out of his skin. "Mabel has brought gifts of lemonade!"

"Dang it, Mabel!" Dipper groused. "I told you not to do that! We'll fall off."

"Pee-shaw!" Mabel shook her head. "Dip, I know you, you're, like, cray-cray for safety. It's gonna take more than me to get you two to fall."

"It's the principle of the thing!" Dipper made sure not to call attention to the rope wrapped around his waist and connected to Soos' car on the far side of the shack. The roof of the Mystery Shack was far too steep to be doing roofing work without some kind of anchor. Mabel was right, of course, but her ego didn't need to know that.

"Sheesh… it's hot out here." Mabel ignored her brother. "What is it, seventy degrees?"

"Seventy-one, last I checked, hambone." Soos's tar gun clicked a few more times before he made his way across the roof, adding the tar to the shingles and wherever needed it as he went.

"Has Gravity Falls weather always been this wonky?" Dipper followed, making sure to watch his step. Their safety ropes would catch them if either fell, but that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt like heck. "I know it's Gravity Falls, but... its mid-March. It shouldn't be this hot."

Soos laughed. "You're working up a sweat, dawg. You're feeling hotter than you are."

Dipper's thought process ground to an abrupt halt when he glanced over at Mabel. She was still standing on the ladder, but she seemed… out of it. She was looking in his direction, but he couldn't tell if she was looking at him in particular or not. Mabel could have easily been looking near or past him, but either way, her eyes were glazed over and unfocused.

Previous safety concerns forgotten, Dipper scampered over to his sister.

"Mabel?" Dipper waved a hand in front of her face. "Anybody home?"

"Huh?" Mabel snapped out of whatever trance that seemed to have taken her with a shake of the head. "Oh, lemonade!"

Mabel's classic smile returned but it was offset by how she all but shoved the two sealed mugs into Dipper's hands. Too bad she'd gotten them the beverages when they were all but finished working. Eh, her heart was in the right place, and that's what mattered.

"You okay?" Now that he was closer, Dipper was able to give Mabel a better look over. She seemed more flushed than usual. While Dipper was helping Soos with the roof, Mabel was spending the day with Waddles and Melody doing yardwork out back. She probably forgot the sunscreen and got sunburnt again. Eventually the girl was going to figure out to be more careful. "You're redder than Wendy's hair."

"Who, me?" Mabel laughed but it didn't sound right. Anybody else and Dipper would have been fooled, but he knew Mabel's laughter enough to know when it was forced. "Nah!"

"You're looking a bit overheated. Think you got a fev…" Dipper brought the back of his hand up to Mabel's forehead to try and feel her temperature, but he barely got a feeling before Mabel recoiled away as if burned.

"I'm fine, Dip. Really." Mabel never jerked away like that. Not for as long as Dipper could remember. "It's just… umm…"

"What?"

"You know…" Mabel look everywhere except at Dipper before her voice dropped into a whisper. "Girl time."

Oh. Oh!

"I'm sure Melody won't mind you taking a break. You might see if you can borrow that heating pad I saw her with the other day." It was not Dipper's area of expertise, but he'd learned a few helpful things. "Ya know, lay down for a bit."

Contrary to what some might believe, Dipper wasn't clueless about things like this. When Mabel first started a while back, he'd been completely blindsided and, for one of the few times in their lives, utterly unaware of how to help his sister. He'd tried asking his mom for information but she brushed him off with comments about 'Mabel's privacy'. While Dipper could understand that, he just wanted to know what was going on and if his sister was alright.

Luckily, their father was a bit more willing to show mercy. Although Daniel could only tell him the basics, and that yes, what Mabel was going through was perfectly normal and she was okay, it was enough for Dipper.

From there, Dipper exercised one of the greatest of his abilities.

Research.

Granted, the subject matter was not what he was accustomed to, and more than a little gross and disturbing, even more so back then, but it had to do with his beloved twin's health. After everything else he'd faced for her in the past, this was tame by comparison.

He'd since armed himself with the power of knowledge and a readiness to help whenever Mabel needed it. The downside, however, was that there really wasn't anything he could do. Mabel just had to deal with it when it came along and get used to it.

That was what really bothered Dipper. He almost, a very tiny almost, wished Mabel was instead possessed by a ghost or had an alien parasite. At least those he could deal with rather than sit on his hands being a human sized encyclopedia. He loved his sister but dang it, he was helpless!

"Thinkin' I'll do that, Dippidydoo." Mabel countenance brightened a little. "Gonna go see if Melody needs help with anything else first. Byzies."

Dipper never got a chance to say anything else before Mabel slid down the ladder.

"Done!" Soos said from right behind Dipper, once again scaring the daylights out of him.

"Soos!"

"Sorry, dude!"

Only once they were safely on the ladder did Dipper and Soos remove their safety ropes. The actual shingling work was finished a while ago so there weren't very many tools to haul down. They'd been doing mainly touch up work since.

"Ugh…" Dipper stretched his back and nearly gasped when he felt it pop. "At least that's done for a while. Oh shoot, what time is it?"

Soos plopped his toolbelt onto the counter. "Almost three, dude."

"Great." What few tools Dipper had, he took over to the nearby closet along with any stragglers from Soos belt that belonged there. "I think I need a shower after that."

"What time you got Wendy comin' over?"

"About six, still plenty of time." Dipper answered, heading for the stairs.

Since Dipper was still under self-imposed house arrest, it made it a little hard for he and Wendy to have movie nights at her place. A challenge that the redhead destroyed by swapping their location to the Mystery Shack. 'If you can't come to me, I'll come to you, man', as Wendy had put it.

"Sure you don't mind us commandeering the living room, Soos?" Dipper had asked it already, but he wanted to make sure. This was his and Melody's house, after all.

"Naw." Soos flashed a thumbs up over his shoulder. "Wendy's, like, one of the family. She's always welcome here."

Dipper returned the gesture and made his way to the back room. He had several hours still, so there was time to burn. Maybe he should work some more on reconstituting the journals. They'd been destroyed by Bill, but between Dipper and Ford's memories, they'd managed to piece some of them back together. Neither had eidetic memory, so a lot was lost, but they managed some recovery at the very least.

First stop, get a spare change of clothes and his borrowed lumberjack hat from his and Mabel's room. Then he could shower up and figure out how best to kill a few hours.

As he approached the door to their bedroom, the first thing Dipper caught was the off-key singing coming from the room. If Dipper strained his ears, he could faintly hear through the wooden barrier the notes of some song being played on the radio.

"Yeah, don't quit your day job, Mabel." Dipper chuckled as he opened the door without thinking, just like he'd always done.

In retrospect, Dipper really should have knocked.

Mabel was indeed singing along to whatever song that was, it very could have been Baba, but right now, Dipper was completely unable to focus enough for his brain to tell him what he was hearing. He was far too focused on what he was seeing.

Mabel stood beside her bed, her back mercifully facing Dipper, but he was more concerned with what she was wearing, or rather, not wearing.

Like all opposite sex siblings, Dipper and Mabel used to do things like take baths together when they were little, of course not for many years, but the point was they'd seen each other without clothes before.

Only now, he was seeing her after the onset of puberty, and holy hell he was staring because the entire expanse of her bare back was on display. He should be moving, yes, Dipper should be leaving the room, like, right now. Yes, any time now.

Dipper's legs refused to budge.

No, her long locks of brunette hair covered much of her skin. Dipper was mentally overreacting. She probably had a top on, or even a bra, and he couldn't see the straps through the hair. Yeah, that made much more sense. Now he just needed to slowly back out of the room, and nobody had to know he walked in on her changing.

It was like the universe decided in that moment it really hated Dipper Pines.

The next thing the unaware Mabel did was reach behind her head and gather her hair up in a ponytail, tying it off with a scrunchie.

Good lord, now her entire back really was on display, and nope, there wasn't a stitch of clothing on her upper body. If she were to turn around now, he'd not only see her, but she'd see that he was seeing…

Need to leave, now!

As if it could get any worse, it was right then that Mabel bent over to retrieve something from the floor. Seeing as how Mabel was wearing formfitting jeans instead of her usual longer skirts, Dipper got a perfect eyeful of Mabel's a…

NOPE!

With the force of a hundred falling comets, Dipper slammed his eyes shut and threw himself out into the hallway, throwing the door closed behind him as he went.

Had he the presence of mind to, Dipper would have quietly tiptoed out and gently sealed the door so as to not attract his sister's attention, but he'd acted too rashly, too noisily.

"Hello?" Mabel had heard the door.

Doesn't this kind of crap only happen in clichéd movies and those stupid romance books Mabel and Melody read in their free time? Surely that stuff doesn't happen in real life?

Well, apparently, it does!

Dipper put a hand over his mouth, not trusting his voice to betray him. Step by step, he walked away from the bedroom, side stepping known creaky boards, before Mabel could investigate the curious case of the self-opening door.

If his luck held out, Mabel would just later think what she'd heard was the radio. Either that, or she'd been imagining it.

Yeah, right, like she was going to believe that!

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**Another chapter finished, plans set in motion, and a story back on track how I want it to go. I'll call this a win. Leave a review/comment, please, dear readers! **


	5. Signals Part 2

**This wasn't my first choice for chapter 5 (it was supposed to have another scene) but I'm sick and Mabel's part was all but finished. So hopefully there are not too many editing mistakes here. All goes well, by next week I'll be back to normal. **

**Enjoy**.

* * *

"Oh, shoot." Mabel tore through the Mystery Shack at top speed as soon as she was out of sight of Melody. Swinging by the kitchen, she snatched the two mugs off the table and hurried for the ladder leading to the roof. She was supposed to have given these mugs of lemonade to Soos and Dipper hours ago but… curse Waddles for being so adorable and distracting!

Nah… Mabel couldn't blame her best friend and pet. It was her own dang fault for being forgetful.

Holding the handles of both mugs with one hand, Mabel used her other to scale the ladder and open the trapdoor. Hopefully, if she was lucky, Mabel wouldn't be too late at the delivery.

Much to Mabel's shame, Dipper and Soos from the looks of things were almost done reshingling the roof.

"Aw crud." Mabel's guts twisted into knots. It had been a warm day to begin with, add in awful shade on the roof and the nature of roofing work itself, the boys had to be suffering. Suffering in the heat, ironic for this time of year. "Way to go, Mabel."

Well, better late than never!

"Have no fear!" Mabel yelled from the trapdoor. "Mabel has brought gifts of lemonade!"

"Dang it, Mabel!" Dipper complained. "I told you not to do that! We'll fall off."

"Pee-shaw!" Mabel shook her head in a way some would think was dismissive. Truth was, she had forgotten about that, too. "Dip, I know you, you're, like, cray-cray for safety. It's gonna take more than me to get you two to fall."

At least she wasn't lying, Dipper really was like that. Knowing him and Soos, Mabel was willing to bet they had a rope tied off somewhere to make sure they couldn't fall even if they tried.

"It's the principle of the thing!"

"Sheesh… it's hot out here." Mabel changed the subject, her mouth moving ahead of her brain. "What is it, seventy degrees?"

'Wow, way to go, Brain. Make me feel worse, why don't you?' Mabel wailed within the safe confines of her mind.

Mabel was pretty sure Soos or Dipper said something else, but her own thoughts were caught like a fly in a spider's web.

Was it just Mabel's imagination or was Dipper looking… hotter than usual?

Not like burning in heat that didn't belong hot, but… yummy hot?

What the… did Mabel seriously just call her brother yummy?

Mabel did have to admit, though, Dipper had definitely filled out some in the last couple years. The boy wasn't going to be winning any manliness grand prizes any time soon but… dang.

Dipper was all hot and sweaty, and why was Mabel having trouble looking away? If wasn't like she was staring at the developing muscles his sweat slicked shirt was showing off, no sir. Did Dipper always look this… desirable?

"Mabel?" Dipper's hand was in Mabel's face When did he get over here? "Anybody home?"

"Huh?" A shake of the head cleared some of the mental cobwebs, enough for Mabel to realizes she'd been caught staring at her brother like a piece of delicious meat. "Oh, lemonade!"

Mabel grinned and shoved the two mugs at Dipper with probably a little more force than necessary. She needed to get attention away from herself, like, now!

"You okay?" Dang it, Dipper! Now was not the time to be that protective brother Mabel always took for granted. "You're redder than Wendy's hair."

"Who, me?" Mabel made herself laugh in an attempt to distract herself from that blush creeping up her body like some evil snake out to get her, the berserk butterflies going wacko in her insides, too. "Nah!"

"You're looking a bit overheated." Of all things Dipper could have done, the last thing Mabel wanted him to do was touch her, she had no idea how she'd react if he did. So what does Dipper do? Put a hand on her forehead. "Think you got a fev…"

Mabel jerked away, but not before the contact sent tingles all the way down her spine and body. Not unpleasant ones, but new ones she hadn't felt from him before. They'd always been touchy feely with each other, it came with being such close bonded twins like them, but this was something entirely alien.

Too bad Grunkle Ford wasn't here, maybe he'd be able to tell her if she had a parasite or something?

"I'm fine, Dip. Really. It's just.. umm…" Mabel frantically searched for some excuse, a way out of this without saying something too embarrassing. It would help if she knew what the real problem was!

"What?"

"You know…" Mabel hated playing this card, it was unimaginably mean to lie to Dipper about something like this, but it was all the she had. "Girl time."

Dipper blinked once, then twice, and on the third one understanding dawned in his eyes.

"I'm sure Melody won't mind you taking a break. You might see if you can borrow that heating pad I saw her with the other day." There goes Dipper, going into full blown helpful brother mode. It was times like this that Mabel was reminded if she told him he needed to slay a dragon to relieve her suffering, he'd probably say 'hang on a minute while I figure out where we can find one'. "Ya know, lay down for a bit."

What kind of brother does actual research about things like this for their sister? It had to be one of the grossest and ickiest things he ever had to look up, but does that stop Dipper Pines? Nope. Mabel doubted literal gods could stop her twin when he was out to help his sister.

Being so close to Dipper wasn't helping her feel any better. If anything, it was making it harder to think straight.

And where was that alluring smell coming from?

It took way too long for Mabel's mind to register that said scent was radiating from a profusely sweating Dipper. It was making Mabel's head spin, her knees shake, all things she found more than a little alarming. This last piece of knowledge was making those butterflies do aerial acrobatics that would have made the finest pilot jealous.

"Thinkin' I'll do that, Dippidydoo." Mabel was internally panicking, but hopefully keeping a tight enough lid on that so as to not arouse suspicion. "Gonna go see if Melody needs help with anything else first. Byzies."

Mabel slid down the ladder a little faster than she should have. The impact hurt her feet a little but nothing really severe. She just had to get away from that roof and Dipper before… before… something, what she had no clue, happened.

"Water." Mabel spoke out loud to an empty gift shop. "Cold water, like artic cold!"

Making her way to the nearest bathroom, Mabel wildly splashed the icy water on her face. "Okay… I think that's…"

Mabel got a hard look at her reflection. Her face was flushed even worse than it was a minute ago, her breathing came in short breaths, and her eyes were unusually… dilated? Was that the word Dipper would have used?

"Nowhere near enough!" Mabel went back to attacking herself with water.

Mabel didn't stop until she was convinced she was well on her way to getting frostbite, or was it hypothermia? Some kind of condition you got from being in water that was too cold for too long.

"Whew!" Mabel breathed in deeply and looked at her reflection once again. Her face no longer felt, or looked, like a furnace, and her eyes were also back to normal. "Much better!"

Oh yes, Mabel was feeling better, but in her enthusiasm to calm herself down, she'd gotten too overzealous with the sink. Her hair, the long tresses previously combed and looking neat, was dripping wet and clinging to her face and neck. Not even her sweater was spared, the material soaked through like she'd just gone swimming. On the upside, her jeans avoided the watery fate entirely.

"Great." Mabel flicked her wrists, water flying everywhere. "Annnnd not a towel in sight." Not that it would have mattered, Mabel was going to need to change whether she liked it or not.

Being devoid of any hair ties, Mabel pulled her hair back and, after straining out what water she could, held it in place behind her while heading for the room she and Dipper shared. Not meeting anybody along the way was a blessing, she didn't have to explain why she was soaked.

Once inside, Mabel swatted the door closed without another thought. Finding the room too quiet for her liking, Mabel took out the radio Soos had given Dipper shortly after their arrival and flicked across the stations until she found one she recognized.

With a content nod at her choice, Mabel got to work.

Since leaving Piedmont, Dipper and Mabel had been forced to replace the bulk of their wardrobe. They hadn't been able to smuggle much out when they made their escape. Only essentials, and much to Mabel's sorrow, that didn't include all her clothes.

Yet, Mabel was not upset about this in the slightest. She'd been almost a straight up zombie, not the best comparison since she'd battled actual zombies a few years back, the whole time while Dipper planned. She'd lied through her teeth the other day, Mabel wasn't even what you could call a co-planner. She just sat back in utter denial of everything that was going on while Dipper went full on man-of-action.

It was almost like one of those fairytales. The ones where the brave knight rides in to spare the maiden from some horrible fate, even going as far as pulling her up on his horse during. The exact same fantasies a younger Mabel, and an older one, frequently had.

Only here, their parents were the monster, Dipper was the knight, and Mabel the maiden. Hmm… Dipper certainly met all the qualifications for a brave knight, especially whenever it involved Mabel. Then there was what happens after the knight recues the…

Whoa! Down girl, where the heck did that come from?

Once she'd stripped her sweater, in addition to the top she wore underneath it, Mabel found one of her scrunchies and tied her hair back properly while reading her brain the riot act for its thoughts. 'Bad brain. We don't need to go there. Ever.'

'But, Mabel…'

'No!'

Mabel still needed to dry her hair properly, but she couldn't very well walk to the laundry area half naked in search of a towel. She would just have to let whatever she put on next be a little damp while both dried. Oh well, could be worse.

Now, what to wear, what to wear… Seeing as how it was already a bit late in the day, Mabel didn't feel the need to find another top or bra, they'd just get unnecessarily wet from her hair. Hmm… ah ha! Mabel caught sight of a blue and white sweater and bent down to snatch it up from the floor.

Shortly after she did, Mabel could have sworn she'd heard the sound of the door being slammed behind her. But when she turned, the door was closed exactly as she'd left it.

"Weird…" Mabel mused aloud. Did that come from the radio? Maybe…

"Uhh… Mister Ghost?" Mabel called out to the room itself. "If you're real and watching, do you mind? Bit busy here. Knock once if you get me, twice if you don't wanna go."

Mabel waited but no knocks came. Eh, it had been worth a shot.

"Weird." Mabel repeated before shrugging and tugging the sweater on over her head.

* * *

**As I said, not really what I had planned, but it's really hard to write with my brain scrambled like this and I didn't want to wait potentially another week. **


	6. Movie Night

**Here's hoping this chapter is better than that abysmal last one. **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Apparently, Dipper's luck was not as deplorable as he'd first thought. Much to his relief, Mabel never seemed to figure out he'd walked in on her by accident. He would have never heard the end of the teasing, providing he didn't die from embarrassment first.

After fleeing from their bedroom, Dipper busied himself in the gift shop, pretending to clean and organize the merchandise. In addition to any other task he could think of to distract himself from what he just saw.

Unlike Stan, who regularly closed the Mystery Shack during the off months, Soos decided to leave the place open year-round. While there were not hardly any tourists that randomly popped in like the summer months, Soos did occasionally get scheduled tours from those who called ahead. The people that were here when Dipper and Mabel first arrived was one such group.

Dipper was tweaking how a stack of coffee cups was arranged when he heard someone enter the room.

"Hey, Brobro?"

"Need clothes and shower." Dipper flew past his sister.

"Wha…" Mabel couldn't even form a single word before Dipper was gone.

While Dipper wasn't lying when he said that, he really needed to keep away from Mabel. At least for now, until he could figure out why his thoughts were going in such crazed directions. Although, as loathe as he was to admit it, this might require an icy shower instead of the warm one he would have preferred.

Dipper had retrieved his change of clothes and made it to the bathroom before he remembered why he needed the shower in the first place.

"Aw, man!" Dipper slapped his forehead with his palm. "Wendy's coming over in a few hours!"

Oh sure, he could distract himself from Mabel problems for a time, but in truth he was only trading one issue for another. Dipper still hadn't figured out which was going to turn him gray early first, parental problems, Mabel problems, or Wendy problems.

So many problems, and no solutions in sight.

On the upside, the cool shower seemed to have calmed him a bit. With his mind a little more relaxed, Dipper retreated to his room, blissfully Mabel free, and took out one of the new journals.

When they had possession of all three of Ford's journals, Dipper had spent almost all of his time with the third one. Making him the expert on piecing it back together. He'd already made considerable progress. About eighty percent, maybe a hair more, he'd been able to remember clearly. Everything else he had doubts about, this uncertain information he would write down but made sure to keep it separate that it wasn't completely reliable.

Ford himself filled in some of the missing third journal, but Dipper remembered it better than he did. An irony not lost on either Pines.

The bad news was journal two was barely recoverable, only about twenty-five percent. Still, it was better than nothing. Dipper and Ford were still weighing the options of asking Gideon how much he remembered. Much like Dipper with journal three, Gideon spent the most time with two.

Of all people that could have helped, it was Stan who saved the day with journal one. He'd possessed it for almost thirty years, and during those years he'd spent trying to bring his brother home, he'd read over the book cover to cover more times than could be counted. He might not have the biggest interest in the subject matter, but he knew it anyway.

Any other time, Dipper would have lost himself in his work, letting it distract him from whatever was plaguing his thoughts. It was a tactic that served him well in the past, but not this time.

Try as he might, Dipper couldn't remain focused. Far too many times he found himself writing out his thoughts about Mabel and Wendy instead of information on Gravity Falls weirdness. Of course, said thoughts made about as much sense as the idea of Bill Cipher doing charity work so he had to rip the pages out and start again.

The final straw came when Dipper attempted to redraw the sketch of the zombies. Dipper had waited on replacing that entry since it was still fresh in his mind's eye, probably helped by the fact that this particular one he'd battled with in the past. Dipper was halfway through the drawing when he realized he hadn't been drawing a zombie at all. The picture involved too much flannel, too many freckles, and even only have finished was far too beautiful to be a zombie.

"For cryin' out loud!" Dipper groaned, ripping the page out, balling it up, and hurling it over into the nearby trash can. "Stop… thinking… about… this…" He complained between whacks of the book to his head.

It was right then that Dipper happened to glance over at the clock.

Wendy was going to be over in a few minutes!

Journal and issues forgotten, Dipper tore out of his bedroom at top speed toward the kitchen. Normally, since movie night was at the Courdory house, Wendy was "Master of Snacks" as it was unofficially known. However, with movie night being at the shack instead, it was now Dipper's job. First time and he was already screwing it up.

"Yo, dawg. What's, like, the rush?" Dipper was in such a hurry, he'd narrowly barreled into Soos as the man was leaving the kitchen.

"Movie… no snacks… late…" Dipper panted, trying to get past Soos. At this point, he could at least have the necessary popcorn cooking, though Wendy was going to tease the hell out of him about it.

"Way ahead of ya, dude." Soos pointed a thumb over his shoulder at a huge steaming plastic bowl of popcorn.

"Soos…" Dipper clapped is hands together and bowed like something out of a kung-fu film. "Thank you, sensei."

"You are most welcome, young grasshopper." Soos copied the gesture with a completely serious expression on his face. It failed to last long before both burst into laughter. "Seriously, though. I got your back, dawg."

"And I appreciate it." Dipper only now saw how Soos was dressed. "You taking Melody out on a date?"

"Yup." Soos chuckled, scratching the back of his head. A nervous tic of his. "How do I look?"

"You look great, pal." Dipper said. He and Melody had been together a couple years now, but Soos still had his bouts of insecurities. Melody herself had confessed to Dipper and Mabel how she found it endearingly adorable so he had nothing to fear.

Watching Soos and Melody arm in arm, both lost in their own private little world, never failed to make Dipper smile. Life had been rough on Soos enough as it was, it was good to see his dear friend so happy.

"Where my homie at?" Dipper had just lifted the bowl when he heard the voice calling out through the Mystery Shack. It brought both an eyeroll, and a dopey grin out of Dipper. Of course, she never was one to knock.

"Living room, stat!" Dipper yelled back.

"First one there gets couch pick!"

By the time Dipper managed to reach the living room, Wendy was already laying down, her long body taking up most of the space.

"No fair, you got freak lumberjack jeans!"

"Sore loser." Wendy giggled, body stretched across the entire expanse of couch, her shirt riding up ever so slightly. Enough to expose a bit of a toned stomach that once upon a time would have turned the boy into a stuttering wreck. Good thing his willpower was stronger these days, a couple of years back he'd have been staring and unable to look away. "Ahhh… so comfy. Why couldn't Stan ever spring for a better one?"

"You know Stan." Dipper approached the couch, Wendy instantly twirling so that he actually had room to sit. "Between the portal, garden-variety greed, and being almost the only one watching TV for the longest time, he never saw the need."

Having taken over the Mystery Shack, Soos had done away with the single person couch almost right off the bat. He'd since traded it out for a longer one that could comfortably seat two. After all, Wendy and Dipper were not the only ones who had movie night at the shack.

"True that." Wendy took the bowl off Dippers hands. "Hey, any word on when Abulita is coming back to town?"

"No idea, really. Seeing as how she's visiting relatives down south, there's no telling." Dipper jogged back to the kitchen and returned carrying several pitt colas for the two of them. "She might stay there until warmer weather gets here."

"Fair enough. Can't blame her for that." Wendy took a handful of popcorn and stuffed it into her mouth. "So, what's our first victim, Dip?"

"Well, we got a few options." Dipper trekked over to the television. The remote had gone missing recently, probably Mabel's doing, so this was the only way to work the controls. "Let's see, we have…"

"Whoa!" At Wendy's exclamation, Dipper looked over his shoulder to see Mabel had inexplicably appeared and dove across the couch. The girl landed half on the couch itself, with feet dangling off the edge of the armrest, and the rest of her across Wendy's lap.

"Movie night!" Mabel cheered with her hands up, both narrowly missing Wendy's chin. "Woo-hoo!"

"Mabel." Dipper mentally counted to five in an attempt to keep calm. "What are you doing here?"

"What?" Mabel pouted. "I'm soooo bored!"

"Don't you have, like, knitting or something to be doing?"

"Ran outta material." Mabel shrugged, wiggling a bit in place in an attempt to get more comfortable. In doing so, she now had her legs handing off the edge with just her head in Wendy's lap. "I got nothing else to do Bro-bro!"

Dipper almost couldn't believe this. He'd been so looking forward to this time alone with Wendy. It was no secret, at least between Dipper and Mabel, that these were Dipper's favorite parts of Gravity Falls. Seconded only to discovering new anomalies, and that was a very close decision.

Granted, Mabel was his sister, and she lived here, too. It wasn't like the girl was intruding but… okay, yes, as far as Dipper was concerned, Mabel was intruding. But he couldn't very well tell her that, he wasn't that heartless.

"Okay, fine." Dipper sighed, not concealing his displeasure. "You can stay."

While Dipper spoke, he noticed something Mabel hadn't since the female Pines twin was focused on her brother. Wendy was scowling down at the girl. At first, Dipper thought it was because of Mabel's surprise attack. Much to Dipper's confusion, that leer got worse with Dipper's decision. Except it wasn't directed at Dipper at all. It was almost as if Wendy didn't want Mabel here, either.

"Yes!" Mabel cheered. "Feminine wiles win again, right Wendy? Ooh! Popcorn!" Mabel wasted no time in devouring part of the bowl.

"Oh, yeah, totally." The moment Mabel looked back to Wendy, the glare was gone, replaced by Wendy's more ordinary expression. The redhead might have tweaked her expression, but her voice was a dead giveaway, something Dipper was able to catch from ten miles away.

Wendy wasn't happy with this new development.

Yet, all of this went unnoticed, or ignored, by Mabel. Whom was grinning happily, blissfully unaware.

At this point, Dipper didn't care which movie they watched. He was already having a lousy time, and it didn't look like an improvement was in his future. Working the buttons, he flipped on the first movie he found. Some old swamp monster film, but Dipper barely noticed.

With the movie playing, Dipper crawled back over to the couch. Seeing as how Mabel now took up the other half of the couch, and the armrests were horribly uncomfortable, that left Dipper sitting on the floor. Much as he hated to admit it, this was absolutely typical.

"Dudes, this couch is so uncomfortable." Wendy shifted in her seat some time into the movie. "I've sat on metal chairs that were nicer than this."

"You're nuts!" Mabel had shanghaied Wendy's thigh as a pillow.

"Ah, screw it." To Dipper's shock, and no small amount of excitement, Wendy gracefully slipped off the cushion to plop down onto the floor beside him. Straightening up so that her back was resting against the couch, her legs stretched out in front of her, Wendy sighed in contentment. "Now this is much better, wouldn't you say, Dip?"

"Uh… yeah, sure!" Dipper laughed, suddenly becoming keenly aware of the fact that Wendy was pressed right up against his side, her pose a perfect mirror to his own.

"More couch for me!" Mabel cackled, stretching herself to her full height across the cushions.

Wendy said nothing else, but she did give Dipper the lightest elbow to the ribs ever in addition to a knowing wink. As it the situation could get stranger, she visibly relaxed into his side. She still had several inches on him, but at least she didn't dwarf him like she did when he was twelve.

Mabel was busy rolling in her achievement, literally, so she missed the exchange between her brother and Wendy.

"Bro!" At least Dipper had been hoping Mabel missed it. "We almost forgot?"

"Forgot what?"

"Our phones!"

"Oh!"

"Phones?" Wendy's eyebrow arched.

"Hang on." Dipper, after some fumbling with lousy pockets, managed to fish the item in question out of his cargo pants pocket. "Here, we need you to add your number to me and Mabel's."

"Will do!" Wendy snatched the device from Dipper's hand without the slightest fanfare. "So, mom and pop let you guys get one, eh?"

At the dark looks that crossed the twin's faces, Wendy knew she'd misspoke, but Dipper didn't give her the chance to correct it. "We got them from Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford."

"For dire emergencies." Mabel butchered her attempt at an impression of Ford's voice.

"Stan said they're just cheap burner phones." Dipper explained. "We can't really do all that much with them, and there is only so many minutes, so they're more for in case of an emergency or something."

"Good thinking." Wendy nodded, having finished adding her number to Dipper's phone. She was already halfway through with Mabel's. "Besides, you two are plenty old enough. Got my first one when I turned thirteen."

"Yeah, but you know our mom." Mabel sighed. "I just don't think you're quite mature enough, kids. Blargh…"

"Anyway… mom and dad were talking about us getting our first cell phone when we turned sixteen. But I think that ship done sailed." Dipper pursed his lips.

"Hey… I just noticed something. What's the big deal going on here?" Mabel's words nearly made Dipper jump from his skin. He was so tempted to jump away from Wendy like he'd been electrocuted, but managed to rein that impulse in.

It wasn't like they were doing anything, right? Just two best buds sitting close to watch a movie. The fact that Wendy abandoned a perfectly nice and comfy couch to join him on the hard floor hadn't meant anything either, no way.

Oh, wait, Mabel was asking something…

"What?" Dipper questioned.

"Your hats." Mabel bopped Dipper on the head, followed by Wendy. "What's the deal?"

"Our hats?" Dipper reached up to the lumberjack hat adorning his head. "No way! I didn't get something on it, did I?" Mabel yanked the thing off and frantically looked it over for signs of foreign contamination. "Mabel, why didn't you say something earlier?"

"Chill out, dude." Wendy laughed, removing the white and blue truckers cap she wore. "You're taking better care of it than I ever did. You're clean."

"Oh." Dipper cleared his throat, dignity probably already in the dumpster by now judging by his warming cheeks.

"I thought you two would trade them back, again." Mabel hid it well, but a giggle at Dipper's expense was hiding beneath the surface.

While it was true that Wendy and Dipper had swapped hats back and forth in the last couple years, they hadn't even considered it this time. Maybe it was because this wasn't an official Gravity Falls summer. They'd be breaking tradition if they swapped now.

The simple truth was, neither had thought of it. Just looking at Wendy right now, Dipper knew she didn't want to, and neither did he.

"I dunno, I kinda like it." Wendy confessed, flipping the hat back onto her head. "I think it looks good on me."

It didn't just look good on her, it looked absolutely fantastic. Dipper bit his tongue to make sure he didn't say that aloud, though. Within the safety of his mind, Dipper was able to admit he got a lot of joy from seeing Wendy in his old hat ever time he saw her, why he wasn't sure.

"Yeah, and this is sure nicer than mine." Dipper followed Wendy's lead. "This one's got utility and stuff. It's really useful."

"Uh huh." Uh oh, Dipper knew that look. The hamster wheel that made up Mabel's brain was turning, and not in a good way. She was already scheming something, and Dipper wasn't sure just how terrified he should be.

Much to Dipper's relief, Mabel didn't pursue. If she was indeed planning something, it remained tucked away within her head. Arguably, a more terrifying prospect.

* * *

"Hey, Wendy? Can you… maybe help me with something?" Mabel had closed the front door behind her, leaving the two girls alone on the front porch and out of earshot of Dipper. Mabel didn't want her brother hearing about this, interesting.

"Sure thing, Mabes. What is it?" While Wendy was still irked about Mabel messing with her evening plans, she wasn't a person to hold a grudge. At least not against someone like Mabel, who had no idea what she'd done.

"You've got some relationship experience, right? I need some advice."

"Hang on. I think I misheard you. I thought you said you wanted relationship advice." Wendy almost laughed. Sure, she was an expert on relationships, or at least on how to screw them up. All of hers had gone down in flames for one reason or another. She'd had a couple more since the Robbie debacle, but truth be told, every guy she dated had something lacking. Whatever it was, Wendy didn't know. None of them really just… clicked, with her. "Aren't you, like, the master of match-making? Isn't this your shtick?"

"It is!" Mabel squawked before slapping hands over her mouth and shooting a glance at the door into the shack. "It's just… I don't know what to do! I'm going cray-cray here! Cray-cray!"

"Okay, okay, calm down." Wendy put what she hoped was reassuring hands on her younger friend's upper arms. "First, who is it?"

"It's…" Mabel visibly paled. "Somebody I'd rather not say."

Hmm… strange. Usually Mabel was super open with Wendy. Why come to her for assistance, but hide this? Maybe it was one of Wendy's friends? The twins were a bit older than they were back during their first summer, it wouldn't be so bad if that was the case. Then again, Wendy doubted any of her friends were the girl's type.

"What's the actual issue, here? Just go up to him… or her?" The look on Mabel's face told Wendy what she needed to know. "Him, then, and ask him out. You've done that a thousand times before. What is making this one any different?"

"Yeah, but… ugh!" Mabel turned and introduced her forehead to the wall a little harder than Wendy would have liked her to. "It's not that simple. He's… look, he's somebody I really shouldn't be attracted to in the first place!"

"Can't be as bad as the puppet guy from a few years back."

"Gabe. Bleh…" Mabel stuck her tongue out, miming vomiting sounds. "Why the heck do I even remember that?"

"Okay, Mabel." Wendy gently shook Mabel by her arms. "Focus. Is he a nice guy?"

"Oh, heck yes."

"Is he going to treat you good?"

"I don't think he would know how not to."

"Would you say you feel safe around him?"

"I… yes." Mabel hesitated saying that, but there was such conviction in her eyes, Wendy knew she meant it.

"Still not seeing the problem." Wendy didn't give Mabel the chance to interrupt again. "You seem to really like him, and I don't see any reason you shouldn't give it a shot."

"It's just… I shouldn't like him!"

"Come on, isn't this what you do? Listen to your heart and all that junk?" Wendy said, lips raising in a smile. "Stop thinking so much, just do it. You never know what will happen unless you actually do something."

Yeah, stop thinking so much and just do it. One of these days Wendy needed to take her own advice. She was being a total hypocrite saying this, but maybe it was what Mabel needed to hear.

"What's the worst that could happen?"

Mabel looked Wendy square in the eye and spoke without the slightest hint of humor. "The end of my world."

* * *

**I know where I want to take this, but I'm still having issues. It's like having points A, B, E, and F, figured out but I'm missing points C and D. Work in progress. Leave a review/comment please! **


	7. Midnight

**Things get a little closer for Dipper and Mabel here so if incest isn't your cup of tea (which I assume you wouldn't be reading this story if it wasn't) it might be prudent to hold here. **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

"My knight has come!" the Maiden shouted in joy when she saw the figure crash through the door.

A goblin attempted to yell out a warning, but the Knight's horse galloped right over the beast like he was nothing more than a speedbump. It hadn't managed to make a sound, save for the crunch as he was trampled underfoot.

Although she was tied to a pillar, moments from being sacrificed to some evil god these monsters worshipped, the Maiden never once felt fear. Not even while the beasts fastened her hands over her head with heavy ropes. In fact, she laughed.

'When my knight comes, you will all be sorry'. the Maiden had told them. They brushed off her words with demented cackles. Nobody knew she'd been taken, there was no hope.

Oh, how wrong they had been.

The large room, the pit at its center where the sacrifice was to take place, had been filled with various beasts. Goblins, trolls, and all sorts of other terrible creatures the Maiden could not name. They had been quite brave while manhandling the Maiden, kicking and screaming, into the fortress.

All of this courage had evaporated with the arrival of someone who could and fully intended to, fight back. The moment the Knight appeared, the horde scattered in pure terror before he could even reach most of them. More than a few accidentally falling into the pit itself. An irony not lost on the Maiden.

The Knight faced no opposition as he rode over to the Maiden's side, cutting the ropes holding her with a single swing of his sword.

"My hero." The Maiden gushed, taking the Knight's hand. With a great show of strength, he effortlessly hefted her onto the horse behind him.

With the Maiden safely at his back, her arms around his armored waist, the Knight turned them around and galloped for the exit. None of the monsters barred their way, all had fled for their lives.

While the Maiden had missed the incoming attack, the Knight did not. Faster than her eye could track, he drew his sword again and severed the tentacle swinging for them.

Taking her eyes off the exit, the Maiden saw, to her horror, many more tentacles rising from the black pit. They twisted and writhed like vile snakes, each with a snapping mouth filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth. Foul saliva dripping from their maws at the presence of prey.

While the Knight was busy fighting off another, a third tentacle appeared and swatted the pair off the horse. The Knight's chest plate took the brunt of the hit, and as they fell, he twisted them so he broke the Maiden's fall.

Before the Maiden could register what was happening, the Knight was pulling her to her feet.

"Go." The Knight urged the Maiden. "Hide while I deal with this beast."

"Be careful, my knight." The Maiden's touch lingered on the Knight's hand while she fled. Taking cover behind the pillar that was previously her prison, she looked around the stone to watch the Knight's battle.

The Maiden wished she hadn't.

The various tentacles parted ways for another creature to rise from the pit. It was an unsightly horror, covered in slimy scales and jagged spikes. From within the enormous mass, the Maiden could make out what appeared to be two heads, but there were so many eyes and blisters covering the thing, it was difficult to tell for certain.

Before anyone could react, one of the heads shot out and scarfed up the Knight's horse and swallowed it in a single gulp. The poor animal never stood a chance.

"BLOOD IS DEMANDED!" A distinctly female voice roared from one of the heads, the very foundations of the castle shook with the intensity.

"BLOOD SHALL BE GIVEN!" A new voice, this one male but no less powerful, came from the second head.

The Monster bellowed out a terrible roar. As much as she tried to resist, the Maiden fell to her knees and covered her ears in a vain attempt to block the sound out. But no matter how hard she tried, it smashed right through her skull like a bludgeon.

Mustering what strength she could, the Maiden turned her gaze up, fearing for the Knight. But her worry was for naught, he stood resolute. With a dramatic flourish, his sword was raised into a combat stance. The challenge unspoken, but understood.

He would not be cowed.

With another scream, the fury of the tentacles was upon the Knight again. He moved with the ease of a veteran warrior, slashing through the assaulting appendages with ease. The few that managed to get through his guard found their attacks halted by his armor.

The Maiden watched her beloved battle the Monster and had ultimate faith in him, but even she knew how futile his efforts were. For every tentacle he cut down, more took its place. If he could not strike the Monster itself, he would be worn down eventually.

The Maiden could not just watch as the Knight battled for both of their lives. She had to do something, but what could she do? She was no warrior, she held neither armor nor weapon. But there must be something she could…

In that moment, the Maiden's eyes fell on the winch and chain on the far side of the room. Following its path with eyes, she saw the chain led to the enormous chandelier hanging over the pit.

Specifically, over the Monster's heads.

While monster and knight were distracted by their fight, the Maiden bolted for the opposite direction. If the beast spotted her in the open, she had no way to defend herself. But to do nothing would be a travesty.

Fate was kind to the Maiden on this day, she reached the winch without alerting their foe.

However, the winch was stuck and would not budge, no matter how hard she pulled on the release mechanism. Perhaps she could…

Ah ha!

When the smaller monsters fled earlier, most had dropped their weapons on the spot. The weight of the axe was almost too much for the Maiden, but she raised the weapon as far as she could anyway.

Her first swing struck true and splintered the winch, but did not break it.

"DANGER!"

The Monster spotted her!

With a yell of her own, the Maiden pulled back on the axe again and swung with all the power of her lithe frame. There was a thunderous crack, followed by a screech from above.

Just before the Monster's tentacles reached the Maiden, the chandelier gave way and dropped right on top of the beast. Only, it did more than just crush it as she planned. The slime covering its body must have been flammable. When the fires of the chandelier touched it, the entire beast lit up like a bonfire.

The scream of agony was nearly enough to make the Maiden double over in pain herself. But before she could, the Knight was at her side, taking her by the hand and leading her toward the exit.

The Monster's tentacles swing everywhere erratically. More than once the Knight and Maiden had to duck beneath one, but it was no longer actively targeting them.

While it wasn't going after the retreating pair, the Monster wasn't caring where it flailed. As a result, it splintered a number of support beams holding up the fortress.

The duo had barely managed to make it to the doorway leading outside as the ceiling finally gave way and fell atop the Monster in a cascade of stone, brick, and mortar. It was crushed into pulp and finally slain, but the Maiden and Knight reached the safety of daylight.

"Are you injured, my lady?" The Knight's hands were covered in metal gauntlets, but nevertheless his touch was gentle on the Maiden's jaw.

"Not at all." The Maiden's lips raised in a smile. "Thanks to you. I knew you would come for me."

"As I always shall, my lady." The Knight bowed his head slightly.

Still smiling, the Maiden reached up to take hold of the Knight's helmet. With a little effort on her part, she raised the piece of armor off and tossed it aside with a heavy thud. With the offending piece of metal out of the way, her fingers were free to caress the skin and stubble of the Knight's cheeks.

Had the Maiden a mirror on hand, she would have noticed how suspiciously similar the Knight's face was to her own. Not that she would have cared. He was her knight either way.

The Knight said something then but the Maiden's ears were unable to catch it.

"Yes, my knight?"

"May I kiss you?"

"Of course." The Maiden's heart beat so fast, it nearly cracked her ribs. Not even the battle against the monster provoked such a reaction.

The Knight leaned in, but just before his lips made contact with hers, he stopped and uttered a single word.

"Mabel."

"What did you just say?" The Maiden felt her heart nearly stop.

"Mabel!"

Mabel jumped up in bed only to realize too late somebody was leaning over her.

Mabel and Dipper both recoiled in pain as the girl shot up to smack face-first into Dipper's forehead faster than he could pull away. The twins each fell back groaning and rubbing their heads.

"Dipper?" Mabel wiped sleep from her eyes, mind trying to focus on where she was.

"You okay?" Dipper also rubbed at his head, but for different reasons. "You were talking in your sleep. You haven't done that in years."

"I… I was?" Mabel inwardly panicked, vividly recalling what she was dreaming. If Dipper found out just what she was dreaming… no, no he can't find out! "I didn't say anything… freaky or anything, did I?"

"No?" From the way Dipper spoke, and the fact he wasn't acting appalled or embarrassed, Mabel must have been mumbling nonsense. A lucky break for her.

"Great!" Mabel flipped over so that her back was facing her brother. "Nighty night, broseph!"

"Okay, then." Dipper drawled, obviously not completely convinced.

Mabel waited with bated breath for Dipper to ask anything else, but instead she heard the sound of movement behind her followed by the rustle of fabric as he laid back in his own bed.

It wasn't until Mabel heard Dipper's breathing even out with sleep that she dared roll back over to look at her brother.

Much to Mabel's shame, and no small amount of disgust with herself, she'd taken to spending a little time watching Dipper sleep. Not every single night but… alright, most nights. It had started a couple days after they secretly returned to Gravity Falls. It began with her worried mind seeking reassurance in her brother's presence, but it had since taken something of a… wicked turn.

Maybe not wicked, but wow was she having a lot of thoughts she should never be having. She could only imagine the words Dipper and everyone else would start throwing at her if they knew. Freak, sicko, demented, these were some of the nicer possibilities Mabel's worry filled brain had concocted.

With a full moon coming in through the window, Mabel could actually see quite a bit. Normally all she could was Dipper's silhouette through the gloom. Now her eyes could see dang near everything. Such as the slow rise and fall of Dipper's deceptively muscular chest as the air moved in and out of his lungs. Just how peaceful he looked while he slept. This was one of the few times that he truly stopped planning and overthinking everything and just… relaxed.

Looking down at the floor, Mabel couldn't help but feel a symbolic meaning behind the distance between their beds. It wasn't that long in reality, merely a handful of steps, but to Mabel, it felt like a thousand miles. A thousand miles fortified by traps, hazards, and a crapload of monsters that would be happy to eat her alive.

Flopping onto her back once again, Mabel reached over her head and took one of her pillows. Shoving it over her face, she let loose a muffled scream into the soft material. Checking to make sure Dipper was still dead to the world. Seeing as how he was, Mabel put the pillow where it belonged, she laid back once again.

Why? Why did she feel like this?

Mabel was supposed to be growing up, getting more mature. Though a large part of her innate silliness was still going strong, she was capable of proper decisions like any self-respecting teenager should have been capable of. More than that, she was supposed to someday find a nice guy, maybe not prince charming, but something like that. That was how Mabel should have been living her life.

Not be falling in love with her gosh be darned brother!

No, wait, scratch that. Mabel wasn't falling, she'd done fallen a long time ago. She was just late to the party.

But could you blame her? Look at everything Dipper has done for her in the past!

For years, even back when they were babies, it was always Dipper looking after Mabel. When danger or risk reared its ugly head, Dipper's first act was 'protect Mabel and get her away from danger' always, without fail.

All of her failed summer romances stuck out like sore thumbs, too. How much did Dipper suffer, how much did he sacrifice time and time again just to help his sister with her new love interest? Love interests that always blew up in Mabel's face, a certain puppet show with an actual explosion.

The memory of Gabe and the puppet show brought an icy spike right through Mabel's heart every time she thought of it. Dipper had his body hijacked because she refused to help him with what she promised to help with. Not only did she break a promise to the most important person in her life, she didn't even notice when Bill had taken over his body.

Then there was Gideon. Mabel was too scared to tell the blonde boy a simple no. Dipper, being the ever loyal and helpful brother that he was, went to break up with him, on her own request no less, and was almost killed because of it.

Dipper had begun to make progress with his own summer romance at the carnival Stan hosted, and Mabel destroyed it just so she could keep her pet pig. Granted, Mabel loved Waddles dearly now, but at the time, she had placed a pet she didn't even know yet over her own brother's happiness.

All the times Mabel and Stan had poked fun at Dipper. Mabel never once realized how deep her words cut him each time. She was his twin sister for crying out loud, she should have been supporting him and lifting him up, not tearing him down for her own amusement!

With each memory Mabel revisited, she felt the urge to vomit. The beginnings of tears were already forming at the corners of her eyes. She had to be one of the world's worst sisters, if not the absolute worst.

The memory that finally snapped Mabel's spirit in two was of Mabeland. Soos and Wendy had been enticed with the things they wanted to make them join her. But not Dipper, oh no. Deep down, Mabel had known Dipper would never fall for anything Mabeland could throw at him. He was too smart, too strong-willed, to be broken in such a way.

What did Mabel do about him, one might ask?

Replaced her own brother with a 'perfected and better' version, or at least her idea of one. In doing so, she'd committed what was, quite possibly, the ultimate betrayal of her twin she could have done.

Holy moly… why didn't he hate her guts?

'Because he's Dipper Pines.' Mabel's mind told her. 'Greatest brother in the history of ever that has never once hated you, even when you deserved it.'

Unable to silence her guilty conscience, a sniffling Mabel slowly stood, bare feet padding silently across the rug as she approached Dipper's bed.

Being a heavy sleeper, Dipper didn't stir in the slightest when the mattress dipped slightly with Mabel's additional weight. Neither did he react when her hand tentatively reached out to brush a loose couple strands of hair from his forehead. Mabel almost bent down to kiss his birthmark, but what little willpower she still possessed won out.

What was she even doing?

This sheer wrongness of her feelings notwithstanding, anybody with eyes could see that Dipper still carried something of a torch for Wendy. Something Mabel couldn't fault her brother for. After all, Wendy was coolness incarnate. Dipper certainly had good taste.

The other day had been a dumb mistake on Mabel's part. She'd walked past the living room and saw Dipper and Wendy preparing for their movie night and something in Mabel's blood had boiled at the sight.

Petty jealously, yes, that was it. Mabel was straight up jealous of Wendy spending alone time with her brother. Before Mabel could even think the thought, she'd jumped onto the couch into Wendy's lap. She'd also bold-faced lied about not having any knitting material, that was where she was going before she bulldozed her way into Dipper and Wendy's plans.

By the time Mabel had the opportunity, she couldn't back out without looking like a total lying jerk. And so she stayed where she wasn't welcome, adding more guilt to the mounting dumpster fire that was her heart.

At least Mabel had managed to stop her almost-tears from becoming actual tears. Using the corner of Dipper's blanket, she wiped what moisture she could from her eyes.

She'd better be getting back to her own bed before…

"Mabel?"

Oh, crap!

"Everything okay?" Dipper sat up somewhat, his hand reaching for the switch for the light at their bedside.

"Don't!" Mabel swatted Dipper's hand before he could touch it.

"Ow!" Dipper shook his hand in pain making Mabel wince internally. She hadn't meant to hit him that hard. "Okay, okay. What's going on? Bad dream?"

Another needle punctured Mabel's heart. How many times did she have a nightmare and go running to her beloved brother for protection from the terrors of the night? Many times, while they were growing up, but he never sought solace from her once. Another strike against Mabel's sisterly credentials.

"Nope." Recalling her earlier dream, Mabel felt her cheeks growing warm. The darkness was her ally here, so long as Dipper didn't turn the light on, she could hide at least some things.

"Then why don't you want the light on?"

"Because I look terrible!" Mabel dramatically smacked both her cheeks with an audible pop. "Bedhead and all that junk, I bet I look like the swamp thing! Blargh…"

"Mabel." Something in Dipper's voice began setting off alarm bells in Mabel's mind. "Come on, be serious for a minute, I know it's painful, but do it."

"I'll have you know, I can be perfectly serious when I need to be." Mabel smoothly deflected.

"Don't try to change the subject." Apparently, not as smoothly as she thought. "Fess up, what's wrong?"

"I told you." Mabel giggled bit was inwardly panicking. She had to come up with some way out of this. She couldn't let Dipper coax out her problems. Not now, at least. "Nothing."

"Then why are you on my bed?"

"I thought I saw a monster under your bed. I had to check."

"Then shouldn't you be checking under the bed instead of on top of it?"

"I was making sure nothing snuck up here, too. There could be creepy crawlies all over and you wouldn't even know it." Mabel wiggled her fingers in Dipper's face, but he probably could barely see what she was doing.

"Okay." Dipper gently pushed Mabel's hands out of his field of vision. "I'll just take your word for it. Thanks, I guess, for checking on me."

Mabel was in the clear, Dipper had bought her hastily constructed story. So naturally, it was that moment that the tiniest of whimpers escaped Mabel. And in the quiet of their bedroom, it would be impossible for Dipper to miss it.

"Mabel?"

No, no no no. She couldn't start crying now. But Dipper had been so earnest, so sincere when he thanked her. It made Mabel think about all her mistakes, and all that emotion came back like a tsunami of guilt and sorrow. Mabel was totally washed away.

"I b… better be getting back to bed." Mabel's voice trembled as another sob freed itself.

Mabel tried to stand, but Dipper grabbed a fistful of fabric from Mabel's nightshirt and shorts and yanked her back down before she could escape his reach.

"No way." Dipper said while Mabel tried to pull herself free. She probably could have, but it would have required literally ripping her clothes out of his grip. The thought of that sent Mabel's mind to places she really didn't want to be going right now. "Fess up, what's wrong?"

"I keep telling you." Mabel defended. "Nothing."

"Bull."

"It's true!"

"Mabel, why are you hiding? Don't you trust me?"

"You know I do."

"Then talk to me."

"I can't!"

"Why not?"

Too late did Mabel comprehend Dipper had just managed to crack her castle's defenses wide open. She'd lost the outer garrison, but the defenders still held the inner wall and courtyard. They would give no more ground to the invader!

"Because it's a personal problem that I need to deal with." Mabel wasn't entirely lying, at least. "Alone."

"If it's such a big deal, then let me help."

"You can't."

"Try me."

"It's private."

"So? Since when has that stopped us from helping each other?"

"Just stop!"

"Stop what?"

"Stop pretending I ever do anything to help you!"

"But… you do."

"No, I don't!" Mabel growled. "All I've ever done is take advantage and abuse you."

So much for giving no more ground. The invader just massacred most of Mabel's remaining defenders. The castle had yet to fall, but it was looking bleak for her brave warriors.

"That's not true, Mabel."

"Isn't it?" Mabel was on her hands and knees, right in Dipper's face. "Gideon, Waddles at the carnival, Mermando, the puppet show. Does any of this ring some bells in that noggin of yours?"

"Well yeah, but that was only over a couple months." Dipper shrugged. "It's not like you've always been like that."

"For the love of…" Mabel roughly grabbed the front of Dipper's shirt, shaking him while glaring right into his eyes. "Why don't you hate me? Why?"

"Because." Dipper didn't hesitate, matching Mabel's stare with his own. "You're my sister."

"But…"

"I could never hate you."

"You… but… I…"

"You mean the world to me, Mabel." Dipper's hands went to Mabel's own, which had developed a white knuckled grip on his shirt. The feel of his fingertips on her skin was enough to make her slacken but not enough to let go. "I love you."

A new sensation passed through Mabel then, one completely different from what she'd been feeling right up until now. A warmth blossomed in her chest, a feeling of euphoria unlike any she'd felt before. She suspected she knew what it was, but she wasn't able to think, not anymore. As a result, Mabel did not think her next action through in the slightest.

Still gripping Dipper by the shirt, she pulled him closer and mashed her lips to his.

* * *

**This was supposed to go a completely different direction, but as I was writing it the thing went to where it wanted. Not sure how I feel about the result. Let me know what you all think. And suggestions are always welcome, be they for this one or other works. **


	8. Out in the Open

**Once again, this chapter didn't go where I planned to go with it, but sometimes certain chapters write themselves regardless of what direction you want them to go. I actually like how it turned out, though. **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

"Mabel. We need to talk about last night."

"Pffft." Mabel, whom had just vacated Dipper's bed to raid her dresser for the day's clothes, waved a dismissive hand. "What's there to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know." Dipper said. "Maybe the part last night where you kissed me, freaked out, then fainted?"

"That… that is not what happened." Mabel stammered. "Nope, no way. You must have been dreaming."

"Then why did we wake up in my bed, together?"

While Dipper might seem like the dictionary definition of calm and collected on the outside, he was internally still trying to process just what on earth happened last night.

Adding insult to injury, he'd been the first to wake up to discover a slumbering Mabel cuddling him close like a precious stuffed animal. At the time, he'd been suffering from post-sleep muddled thoughts and couldn't remember the night before.

Dipper had never been more relieved than he was when he found himself and Mabel still fully dressed in their pajamas. Sure, he'd felt like an idiot for even considering that a possibility, but tell that to his barely awake past self.

"We had a fight…" Mabel sounded genuine, but her voice was still off. He knew her too well. "You helped calm me down, and we fell asleep during. We've done it millions of times before, not like it's the first time we've shared a bed."

While true, they hadn't done that in many years, and most definitely not since they became teenagers.

Dipper said nothing, merely leveling a blank look at his sister, whom chaffed beneath it.

"Bull."

"What?" Mabel cried out, aghast.

"I said bull. You're lying."

"Am not!"

"We aren't doing the am not are too thing, Mabel." Dipper was quick to nip that in the bud. "Stop avoiding the subject. You did that last night, too."

"But I…" Mabel visibly paled. "You remember all of it, don't you?"

"Yup." It was pretty hard to forget kissing one's sibling, regardless of the reason.

"Oh… I um…" Mabel sat on her bed heavily holding her bright red face in her hands. "Oh man… I've really screwed things up this time."

"Mabel…"

"I didn't mean to!" Mabel jumped up and crossed the room in the blink of an eye. Dipper saw her hands twitch, as if she meant to touch him, but she held back. "I mean… I wanted to but I didn't… what I mean is… I… gah!"

Mabel threw herself face-first onto Dipper's bed, her next words coming out muffled.

"Mabel, I can't hear you in like that." Dipper twisted body so he was sitting beside her with his legs crossed.

"I can't look at you." Mabel lifted her head just enough for her words to be heard, though it required Dipper to strain his ears to do so. "I know what you're going to look like, and I can't take it…"

"For cryin' out loud." Dipper had enough. Mabel didn't want to do this the easy way? Fine, Dipper could work with that, but she wasn't going to like it.

"Hey! What are you… eep!" Mabel, with her face buried in the covers, didn't even notice when Dipper crept closer. She did notice, however, when he griped her by the hips and bodily flipped her over. She didn't make it easy, but hey, upside of growing up, he was physically stronger.

"Communication, Mabel." Dipper stated. "It's important."

"But…" Mabel got the word out, but Dipper could see she was starting to hyperventilate.

"Mabel, take a deep breath, you're about to pass out again."

In and out, Dipper walked his sister through breathing properly, like something out of one of the movies they watch. Once that was done, he got them back on track.

"Talk to me, here." Dipper said.

"I don't know how!" Mabel admitted. "I know we need to talk, but I don't know how to start or even what to talk about!"

"If it helps…" Dipper paused, remembering the last couple weeks. "I think I might know what's going on."

"No way." Mabel scoffed, laughing right up until she saw the look on her brother's face. "Oh, fiddlesticks, you do know, don't you?"

"Yeah, I think I have a pretty good idea." Dipper didn't like where this was going, he definitely didn't think Mabel was going to like it, and he sure as heck didn't like saying his next words. "You… are attracted to me, more than a sister should be."

"Hey, that's great!" Mabel jumped up into a sitting position, grinning ear to ear. "That means I don't have to embarrass myself trying to explain it!"

"Okay." Dipper said slowly. "That doesn't exactly solve anything."

"Doesn't it?" Mabel was still grinning while she sat up on her hands and knees a little too close for Dipper's comfort. "That means we can skip the whole awkward confession stage and go straight to the kis…"

"Whoa, hold up, Mable." Dipper shut his sister down before she could finish. "I don't think you know what you're asking or what that entails."

"Oh, I totally know." Mabel's grin faded a little, it was dawning on her that Dipper wasn't agreeing with her like all the couples in those romance stories she read all the time. "More importantly, why don't you?"

"How about we start with all the problems that would come from this?" Dipper almost couldn't believe they were actually having this conversation. Welcome to Gravity Falls, weirdness capital of the country! "The enormous trouble we could get into, on top of what we already got. Not to mention there's something to be said about it being wrong."

Dipper would have expected Mabel to get upset, maybe start crying, but she did neither. She looked… oddly serene, unsurprised. Her face didn't change while she adjusted the way she was sitting so that she was sitting up on her knees before Dipper.

Next, she raised her hands up, palms pointed toward Dipper with her fingers splayed out. He watched her, but didn't understand where she was going with this.

"Humor me?" Mabel begged, lips pursed into the tiniest of pouts. She probably didn't even realize she was doing it, Dipper could see the borderline desperate look in her eye.

"Okay." Dipper sighed, his hands meeting hers palm to palm.

Mabel pressed her hand tightly to Dipper's, their palms and each pad of their fingers making contact. She held this position for a bit before shifting to grip his hands by lacing their fingers together. All the while, Dipper followed along, wondering where his sister was going with this.

Taking her eyes off their entwined hands, Mabel spoke, her voice barely above a murmur. "Does this feel wrong?"

"No." They were just holding hands, just like all the time Dipper pulled Mabel from danger, nothing new or out of the ordinary there.

Keeping their palms together, Mabel released his hands, her fingertips ghosting along the side of Dipper's hands to glide along his wrists. Each inch done agonizingly slowly, like she was savoring the feeling of his skin under her touch.

There was no way Mabel could have missed the shiver that passed up Dipper's spine, but she completely ignored it in favor of… this scheme of hers.

"And this? Does this feel wrong?" Mabel's hands stopped on Dipper's forearms.

"N… no."

"How does it feel?"

"It feels… umm…"

"Be honest."

"Nice." Dipper confessed. Something in Dipper's head tried telling him that he needed to stop her, but it wasn't like Mabel was doing anything all that bad, right? Baring what she'd done the night before, Mabel was just touching his hands and arms, nothing terrible about that. "It feels nice."

Mabel didn't say another word, neither did her face make any expression. She was perfectly stoic and neutral, a feat Dipper didn't know she was capable of. All sorts of new things about his sister were coming to light in the last few weeks.

Mabel's fingers resumed their quest, sliding up the skin of Dipper's arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. Dipper found himself lamenting it when Mabel's fingers left his skin to pass over the material of his shirt. This time, she only stopped when she reached his shoulders.

"And now?" Mabel swallowed hard. "Does this feel wrong?"

Dipper was having a hard time focusing. While Mabel did her thing, her eyes had been deliberately avoiding Dipper's, but now they were staring straight into his. Her twin chocolate orbs boring holes right through him.

"I… don't think so." Dipper stumbled through his words while Mabel leaned in closer.

Dipper's heart nearly leapt from his chest, how it hadn't managed to crack his rubs with its furious pounding was anyone's guess, when Mabel's hands passed around his neck, her fingers lacing behind his neck in a hold that was firm, but loose enough he could pull away with minimal effort if he so desired. While she did this, her thumbs found their way to his hairline, the digits moving about the locks in a soothing manner Dipper wasn't aware he liked.

The twins were nearing an invisible line, that much Dipper could tell. A line he hadn't imagined even existing between them, let alone them crossing.

Mabel's next act nearly made Dipper's racing heart stop cold. It didn't but it was skipping enough beats to not be healthy.

Leaning in further, Mabel touched her forehead to Dipper's, eyes never breaking contact for even a second.

"Does this feel wrong, yet?" Mabel was close enough that Dipper caught the faint scent of the minty toothpaste she'd used the previous night.

"I… I…" It was clear that Dipper's thought train hadn't just been derailed, it had been blown to kingdom come and back, with the surviving wreckage being smashed to dust. With his voice out of commission, Dipper was only able to shake his head. When he did so, he was careful to do it with as little movement as possible, lest his forehead leave Mabel's.

It was Mabel who broke the forehead contact when she tilted her head, but in doing so, Dipper saw what she was going to do next. The realization allowed his voice to return, meek though it came.

"Mabel… I… I don't know if we should be doing this…"

"Then don't let me." Mabel whispered, course completely unaltered.

Mabel moved slow, far slower than Dipper ever would have dreamed she could, while she closed the distance between them. The space between them was only about four inches, maybe five, but Mabel took more than half a minute to close the gap.

Thirty seconds. Dipper only needed a fraction of one to jerk away or to bring his own hands up to push Mabel away and stop her. She was giving him plenty of opportunity, especially with her hold on his neck so weak. Yet, Dipper's body was frozen in place, his hands, which had gravitated without his knowledge to Mabel's shoulders, were equally still.

Three seconds, Mabel was about to reach her destination and Dipper couldn't… no, that wasn't right. Dipper didn't want to move, didn't want to escape. He… why did he want Mabel to…

For the second time, Mabel's lips found Dipper's.

It was utterly different from the kiss the night before. That kiss had been done spur of the moment, hard, fast, and over almost as quick as it started. This one was almost completely its opposite. Slow, gentle, and cautions. As if Mabel was expecting, and preparing, for Dipper to jump away any second.

The passage of time, along with the last vestiges of Dipper's rational thought, fled at some point without Dipper noticing. After some time, when Mabel figured out Dipper wasn't gong to stop her, Mabel's arms wrapped around his neck in a much tighter hold. Her lips, previously just touching Dipper's, pressed fully against his in a true kiss.

Dipper, fully lost in the sensations, barely registered when his hands left Mabel's shoulders to encircle her and pull her tighter against him. Mabel made a moan of approval, her body shifting so that she sat on him with a knee on either side. With her new position, Mabel pressed every square inch of her body to his that she could, like she was desperate for contact.

Minutes? Hours? How long the pair spent like this was impossible for Dipper's addled brain to figure out, but eventually the biological need for oxygen forced the twins to break apart.

Neither said a word for the longest time, both huffed in deep breaths that moved their entire chests. While no words were exchanged, neither was in all the big of a hurry to separate.

"And… that… did that… feel wrong?" Mabel wheezed between heavy lungfuls of air.

"No…" Dipper said honestly. It wasn't his first kiss, he'd had a couple of, failed, relationships over the years, but nothing Dipper ever did measured up to that. He could almost see stars, and it wasn't from the lack of air.

"Then what's the issue?" Mabel's hands moved again, this time to cup Dipper's jaw, her thumbs caressing the stubble she found there. "Why can't we… try?"

"We can't. We're, ya know, twins?" Dipper's response sounded pathetic, even to himself.

"So?" Mabel said. "We're already on the run. What's one more broken rule?"

"Mable…" Dipper's resolve was crumbling. He deeply loved his sister, more than anything. He had never been able to imagine a world without her, it was part of the reason he'd been so hesitant about taking Ford's original apprenticeship. They wouldn't even be in Gravity Falls right now if their parents hadn't been about to separate them.

And if he was with Mabel, Dipper wouldn't have to worry anymore about Mabel making dumb mistakes in chasing new romances. No more having to hug her tight while she sobbed her poor broken heart out when another 'perfect' relationship went down in flames.

Who better than himself to look after his sister?

They were consenting… well, maybe not adults, but they were consenting people. While society, and probably a number of people they knew, would take offense to the whole thing, Dipper was having trouble finding decent counterarguments.

Mabel was silent while Dipper waged his internal war with his thoughts. He almost wished she'd stop caressing his cheeks with her thumbs. It felt good, yes, but it was also horribly distracting.

"Give me a chance." Mabel pleaded, eyes matching her tone. Eyes that Dipper had never been able to resist before. "I can be a great girlfriend, I know everything about you!"

Dipper sighed. He couldn't believe he was about to do this…

"I mean, who knows you better than your twin?"

"Okay."

"Like how… wait, what?"

"I said okay." Dipper clarified.

"You mean…" Mabel trailed off, lips raising into a faint, almost unbelieving smile. "Please, say it."

"Let's… try." Dipper still couldn't believe the words were coming from his mouth. Yet even as his mind was blaring with alarm bells and klaxons, he forged ahead anyway. "Let's try having a relationship."

"Like… romantically?"

"Yes… romantically."

"With smooches and everything? The works?" Mabel's smile was growing with each word she spoke, like a kid being told they could open birthday presents a week early. Now it lit up her whole face, showcasing her perfectly straight and white teeth.

"Yes, all of… whoa!" Dipper expected Mabel to be excited and happy, she was getting what she wanted, but he didn't expect her to lunge at him. In retrospect, he should have seen it coming, Mabel could get quite excitable.

"Thank you. Thank you." Mabel gushed while peppering Dipper's neck, cheek, head, and in general anywhere her lips could find, with kisses. "I promise, I'll be the best girlfriend ever!"

While Mabel was ecstatic and over the moon, Dipper couldn't help but wonder just what he was getting himself into.

* * *

**If you've noticed a distinct lack of Wendy in the last couple of chapters (despite this being a Wenpines story) you would be absolutely correct. She will feature much more prominently after this one. Especially now that the Dipper/Mabel thing is set up. **

**As I've said before, some of this story I'm coming up with as I write it. I know where I'm going, but having some serious issues in how to get there. My biggest problem now is that Dipper/Mabel are easy, so is Dipper/Wendy, but Mabel/Wendy? That is proving to be a nagging problem. And for a proper triad like I'm planning, I need all three keys to make it work. I have an idea, but it's still a work in progress that I needed to get Dipper/Mabel established first. But fear not, we still have a number of chapters remaining. **


	9. Woodland Girl Time

**I said Wendy was going to have a bigger role going forward. From here on out she will have a much bigger part to play. **

**Enjoy**.

* * *

"Got your gloves, Mabel?" Wendy asked, the golf cart cruising along at a leisurely pace. The girls had work to do, but neither was in all the big of a hurry.

"Check." Mabel wiggled her glove covered fingers.

"Good boots?"

"Check." Mabel plonked one of her heavy booted feet up on the dash of the golf cart, followed by the other. "And check."

"Sleeves?"

"Boosh." Mabel's sleeve covered arms came next. It was another warm day in Gravity Falls, but had yet to hit sweltering levels. Hopefully, it was going to stay that way.

If it did, it was probably a good thing Mabel and Wendy had a task of their own that took Mabel away from Dipper during. Sweet sugar, no boy should look that good while all hot, sweaty, and gross. Mabel would have tried her hardest, for Dipper's sake, but there was no way she would have been able to prevent herself from staring.

It was more than a little weird now. Yes, Mabel didn't have to hide her thoughts, and her only somewhat creepy staring at her brother, but at the same time she had to hide it. Oh, sure, she didn't have to conceal it from Dipper, but she had to make sure she did from everyone else.

Luckily for her, Mabel had always been known for her overly affectionate nature. Every single person they had befriended knew that, while in Mabel's presence, you were at risk of an unwarranted hug or touch of some kind. Had her ignoring of personal space gotten her in trouble a few times? Yes, but that was beside the point.

More to the point, thanks to this little aspect of her personality, nobody batted an eye when Mabel would spontaneously throw her arms around Dipper in an embrace nobody noticed was a little too long, a little too tight, to be for somebody just her brother.

Other gestures had to be hidden, buried deeper than the earth's core. Such as the way Mabel embraced Dipper from behind and, while nobody else could see her do it, plant a kiss to the back of his neck. He'd turned the most adorable shade of red when she did that the other day.

Dipper was her boyfriend, and she was his girlfriend. Mabel absolutely loved how the words rolled off her mental tongue. Much like her actions the night she confessed to him, the words just sounded… right.

Something else that surprised Mabel was that nothing had really changed. Yes, she and Dipper were a couple, but life carried on as it always did. The world kept spinning, nobody fell into the sky, dogs still barked. The only thing that did change? The twins alternated who's bed they were sharing since neither felt like sleeping alone after that first night. This, and Mabel unleashed her full arsenal of romantic gestures in private.

Mabel couldn't help but wonder if this was what perfection looked like…

"Ground control to Mabel." Wendy snapped her fingers in Mabel's face, snapping the younger girl out of her thoughts. "Can anyone read me?"

"Captain Mabel, here." Mabel beeped, throwing in a few static noises for extra oomph. "Signals breaking up, come again?"

Wendy was full on laughing now while she climbed out of the golf cart. "Ahh… I've missed you dorks."

"Like you're one to talk, miss Queen of the Dorks." Mabel giggled mischievously.

"Hey!" Wendy glared daggers at Mabel, her face twisted in a deathly serious expression. Although, it was sort of ruined with her lips struggling to hold a smile back. "We agreed to never speak of that in public."

"Aww come on." Mabel followed the redhead out of the cart toward their goal. "I think it's great. Plus, it's always fun seeing Dip get knocked flat on his butt while he plays Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons."

"It's a fun game, a lot more fun than I thought it'd be." Wendy confessed. "And it's somethin' we can all do together. That's always awesome."

"Don't think that's the only thing I noticed." Mabel said.

"Oh?"

"You get a bunch of his references, like, a lot more than you used to."

"So?"

"Has somebody been studying nerd culture?"

"Okay." Wendy sighed, a faint flush the color of her hair gracing her neck. "I am going to tell you this in confidence, woman to woman, okay?"

"Okay!" Mabel was never one to turn down juicy gossip, even if she couldn't spread it.

"Your brother talks about all kinds of stuff all the time, and I kinda… feel stupid when I don't know what he talking." Wendy explained. "I mean… you guys are like, some of my best buds. So, yes, I've been looking some stuff up."

"You really are the coolest!" Mabel grinned. "Ice ice Wendy!"

"Don't think your brother had noticed, though."

"Nope, he's a little dense." Mabel said, remembering the night of her confession yet again. She remembered that night quite a bit. It was a happy memory, after all.

"Okay." Wendy's voice turned serious, actual serious. "Back to business!"

"To business!" Mabel deflated the tiniest bit when Wendy shot her a look.

"I've been working on this for a bit off and on." Wendy retrieved a chainsaw from behind the seats of the golf cart. "Probably won't need this, but I figured we'd bring it along anyway."

"For the zombies?"

"No." Wendy rolled her eyes before pulling off a woodcutting axe from where it was tied to the side of the vehicle. "This is for the zombies."

"Oooh!"

"Anyway." Wendy motioned to the path that had been cut through the woods. They'd followed it part of the way until the foliage became too dense to drive the golf cart through. "I've cut most of the brush and smaller limbs free, but we need to get it off the road and into piles. We want to be able to see into the woods a bit, though, so spread the piles out and don't make them too big."

"Roger." Mabel flashed a thumbs up and, alongside Wendy, got to work.

In no time flat, Mabel already understood why Wendy wanted to make sure she was wearing the proper outfit. Even with the heavy gloves, Mabel could feel the sharp points of pine needles and other pieces of wood sticking into her hands. Wait… were these pine trees? Maybe… cedar? Cedar had needles too, didn't they?

Bleh… woodcraft was Wendy's territory, not Mabel's. Far as the female Pines twin was concerned, if it had bark and looked vaguely… woody, a tree was a tree.

They worked their way down the path clearing limbs and smaller logs. All of the larger pieces of wood were already taken care of some other day. As they cleared more of the path, they brought the gold cart up behind them.

It was tiring work, and the heat was building up, but Mabel didn't mind. It felt good to be active and in the great outdoors with the fresh air, something she never learned to truly appreciate until she and her brother came to Gravity Falls.

What Mabel appreciated more than the great outdoors, was the company. She hadn't understood just how much she'd missed Wendy, too. Mabel barely even noticed she was working as hard as she was, too distracted she was by talking to the redhead while they went about their business. In fact, one could say Mabel was having a blast cleaning up forest debris.

At least until Mabel asked about Wendy's love life since the previous summer.

That was when things got… interesting.

"Well… there is this guy…" Wendy had the faintest wisp of a smile, but this disintegrated upon noticing what she'd said, and to whom.

"Oh, my gosh!" Mabel squealed, her hands coming up to slap against her cheeks. An action she regretted immensely. She'd forgotten about the sticky sap, pine needles, and assorted tree residue that had been coating her gloves. A coating she'd just transferred to her face. "Bleh!"

Wendy didn't miss the opportunity to laugh at Mabel's expense. In fact, she embraced it with both hands and then some.

Prying her gloves off her face, Mabel tried to wipe some of the gunk off with her sleeve, but this only succeeded in making the mess worse, in addition to spreading the joy of it to her clothes.

"Stupid sap…" Mabel grumbled before her face lit back up. "Come on, Wendy! Give me details, here!"

"Well… I… umm…"

"Details!" Mabel screeched, rushing to Wendy. "Who is he? What's he like? What do you like about him?"

"Whoa!" Wendy's hands game up to hold Mabel back, or at least she did partially. Her gloves were just as messy as Mabel's but the redhead put her slightly cleaner wrists on Mabel's shoulders to hold the shorter girl back. "Slow down. It's nothing."

"Nothing my foot!" Mabel grinned. "Wendy, we've been coming here for years, and not once have you had a boyfriend, not since that whole Robbie fiasco. And I know for a fact that you're not hung up on him. And you've never expressed interest in anyone!"

"That's because… no, we are not talking about this." Wendy caught herself mid slip-up, her mouth clamping shut with a click of her teeth.

"Aww, come on!" Mabel pouted. "Isn't this part of what girl friends are for? To talk about boys?"

"It's…"

"Besides, you and this mystery guy aren't together, are you? Maybe Mabel the Matchmaker can give you a little help?"

"No way!"

"But…"

"I said, no!" Wendy hadn't meant to sound that harsh and mean, her tone quickly shifted to one much softer. "Sorry, didn't mean to yell at you. It's just something real personal, and I don't think you'll be able to help much."

"Can you at least tell me something about him?" Mabel knew cracking Wendy was like cracking a diamond with your bare hands. Smash and yell all you want, it was going to go nowhere. Maybe with a little more… finesse, she could get some information. "I mean, he's caught your eye, he must be something."

A younger Mabel would have then taken this information, and tried gathering more from other sources, and formulated a plan to pair Wendy and this unknown boy up. Mabel was no longer that girl. Much like her brother, she'd done some growing up, too.

Besides, no means no, and Wendy had made her no clear. Mabel would still like to help, but if Wendy didn't want it, Mabel couldn't forcer her to accept it.

Didn't make a dent in the terrible force that was Mabel's curiosity, though.

"Oh, he's something, alright." There was that smile again, the same one Wendy hid so fast a second ago.

"Tell me about him?" Mabel asked again, much gentler this time.

"I've known him for a while, but it feels like far longer than that." Wendy said, retrieving a water bottle from the golf cart in the process. Taking a swig from the drink she continued. "So many boys take one look at me and see the freaky or weird lumberjack girl. If not that, then it's some version of 'hot redhead'."

"To be fair…" Mabel said slowly. "You pretty much are a hot redhead. But he doesn't look at you like that, does he?"

"No." Wendy was full on beaming now, her eyes on Mabel, but her thoughts obviously elsewhere. "It's like he looks at me and sees me as… as…"

"Beautiful?"

"Yeah, that."

"Aww…" Not even the coldest hearted person, something Mabel was as far from as one could get, could deny that look on Wendy's face was anything but adorable. "Every girl should be looked at like that."

"He's a bit dorky at times, but he's got a great heart, and loyalty to a fault. He's funny, and laughs at my horrible jokes. Yeah, he can be a little stupid and makes bad decisions but his heart is usually in the right place. Man… saying this all out loud sounds like some bad cliché…"

"Clichés got that way for a reason." Mabel added. "But, question of the century. Why not ask him out?"

"No. Noooo… bad idea." Wendy waved her arms. "Very bad."

"But why?"

"Just trust me. There are… reasons. Maybe in the future some time, but right now it would be a bad idea."

Hmm… Mabel rather liked the sound of this guy. If Mabel wasn't with Dipper, and Wendy wasn't carrying a torch herself, Mabel might have even been interested, but she wasn't. She had far better already at home. If Prince Charming here and Wendy got together, Mabel would bless the heck out of the relationship.

While Mabel had no intentions of forcing the relationship, or meddling, but that didn't mean she couldn't observe and offer advice to Wendy. If would be a breaking of the close girl friend code if she didn't.

First, she needed to learn Mr. Perfect's identity… but until then, she listened to Wendy go on and on about this boy she had eyes for.

* * *

**Let me know what you all think. **


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